Crimson Power
by PNR-guilty-pleasure
Summary: Set a few years after Ruby Circle. The world is a different place with Lissa as Queen. Our favorite couple is right at the forefront of fighting for a better world. But when Rose and Dimitri disappear on a mission, their lives change forever. Now they have to deal with new found power and need to control it so they can teach the next generation how to handle theirs.
1. Chapter 1

**So the new story is up.**

 **Also I would like to point out to everyone that a few authors and I have worked on a valentines special. It is on a seperate profile page** VA10thanniversaryproject.:

To celebrate Valentine's Day and the 10-year anniversary of Vampire Academy, a small group of avid VA fandom writers have teamed up to create  
a collection of romantic one-shots based on our favorite VA couple – Romitri!

 **The iniative was from Llaria6 and Swimming the same deep waters.**

Chapter 1

RPOV

I was crouched down in the bushes, my hand caressing my stake in my pocket. My eyes focused on the building in front of me and my body wired with adrenaline just waiting to strike. Dimitri was sitting next to me in a similar position. His hand found mine briefly before landing on his own stake.

We were currently outside, far away from the house to do recon and not be noticed by the Strigoi, but close enough to be able to tell with how many we were dealing with.

Although Dimitri and I and our team were the most experienced slayer unit out there I was always on high alert, no matter how well trained we were. One moment of distraction could end very badly. It was in these days I missed being shadow-kissed. My own personal Strigoi radar would be very handy at times. Although it would have meant I would currently be keeling over from nausea.

Since Lissa took the throne things had changed. Change had been slow but we were moving in the right direction. Lissa was now able to focus completely on her task as queen since we had graduated Lehigh a year ago and I was focusing on this. It had been a long four years. Political science. I swear I would have chosen Art over political science. Lissa was kind enough though to let me pick most of the electives so I could enjoy college to. How I ever made it through I don't know. But I was now also the proud owner of a bachelor's in 'how to be an asshole and rule the world'. Even since she became a full time queen she had been busy with making changes.

Lissa had given the okay for so-called slayer units. Small units of highly trained guardians and one or two Moroi that actively went after Strigoi. Dimitri and I had been advocates of this system for a while and were the first to volunteer when the bill passed the council. Our unit was the first and was so unoriginally called team Alpha: the first.

Christian was also in a slayer team, team Echo. But we had discussed that only one of our teams could go on missions at a time. Because we all knew what would happen when Lissa would lose all of us. Lissa had on more than occasion pleaded with Christian not to go, but fighting was in his blood as it was in ours. Lissa being a healer didn't understand to concept. She loved Christian but couldn't understand that part of him. Although I think it was different for Christian as it was for us. Dimitri and I were born warriors. We would always be fighting one way or another, but Christian was made into a fighter. Losing his parents gave him a determination not to be helpless. To stop the same from happening to anyone else. So reluctantly Lissa had let Christian join a slayer unit.

Team Alpha was known throughout the Moroi world. And we had actually been getting a lot of volunteers to join us. It was now considered highly prestigious to join a slayer squad and especially ours. We had the highest kill count and the lowest casualty count. We hadn't lost anyone in months. Dimitri led the team with me as second in command. At first the council was a bit hesitant to place us together, but Hans had long ago learned we were better together.

Hans had seen us sparring and fighting together. There was even a rescue mission where Hans had come along himself and witnessed us in our full glory. After that he said there was no doubt. The fact we could communicate without saying anything, always knew where the other one was and complemented each other's fighting style so we could take on Strigoi together in perfect sync, meant he saw as being together as an asset. We weren't known anymore as guardian Dimitri Belikov and guardian Rose Hathaway, we were known simply as 'them'.

Dimitri and I got married two years ago and I noticed some guardians that joined the team or saw us at court were a bit hesitant as to how to approach us. But the members of our team were used to us. They knew in the heat of battle we were the best. And they also knew that when the door to our room was closed after a battle they shouldn't disturb us. Some had to learn that the hard way. It was fun having newbies discover this by themselves. Although the more experienced members of the team would advise against it. I had seen a similar thing in one of the animal behavior classes in college. A group of monkeys were placed in a room with a ladder and a banana on top of the ladder. Now of course monkeys try and take the banana. Whenever one attempt this the sprinklers would be turned on. After a while no monkey would attempt it. Then they would swap out the monkeys one by one. Now the new monkey would try and take the banana but the other monkeys made sure he didn't get up the ladder. Eventually all monkeys were swapped out and no monkey had been there to see the sprinklers turn on when going after the banana. But still no monkey would attempt it. Even if they didn't know why they couldn't go up there. Of course when it came to barging into our room it was quite clear why the shouldn't be doing it. If they hadn't witnessed it themselves the other members of the team would enlighten them in intricate detail. Just goes to show we did come far in our evolution.

Dimitri and I and the Moroi member of our team, Emily, were on recon tonight. We would scope out the building and learn with how many Strigoi we were dealing. Then we would return to base discuss strategy and go in guns blazing. I liked Emily, she was badass. Her Moroi senses came in handy in recon but her magic came handy in a fight. Emily was a fire user. Although a lot of Moroi that joined the slayer units were fire-users some other elemental users had joined as well. Mia of course being one of them. She was too late to join our team, but she has been a loyal member of team Bravo from the beginning. Christian still remained the only Royal though.

Now Christian was considered very good, because he had technique. He knew how to control is flame and how to inflict the maximal damage. The technique he had learned from his aunt from an early age had only increased and improved over the past few years. But Christian needed that technique, even though, for a fire user he was considered strong, he had nothing on Emily. Emily was pure power. She learned everything about fighting and control while she was with us. Before that she would simply unleash herself. And what a sight it was. One time we just had Emily burn down the building and we took care of the few Strigoi that tried to get away. Christian didn't have enough stamina to do such a thing. It was almost as if Emily was fire itself, but maybe that was because of her red hair.

But today that wasn't an option. The Strigoi cell was too close to the civilized world. And there were several escape routes for them to take. Also we didn't know if they had any victims alive in there. It was rare to find people alive in a Strigoi nest, but we had noticed the more Strigoi aggregate together the more they would also share their food. They would simply pick up a few victims and nibble on them throughout the night.

We had been there for almost two hours watching the coming and going of the Strigoi. We signaled to Emily if she had seen enough and what her count was. She counted the same amount us as so Dimitri signaled retreat.

We carefully and stealthily retreated back to the car waiting for us about half a mile back.

"I counted six." Emily said once we were safe in the car and driving back to our current base of operations.

"There might have been one up the stairs but I am not sure. But let's assume seven."

Both Emily and Dimitri nodded.

Lissa had been kind. She said that if Guardians and Moroi were willing to risk their lives to actively hunt Strigoi then they should do so in luxury. She always booked us at least a four star hotel. And today it was even five. Dimitri and I had a suite with a living section where we held out meetings, the rest had adjoining rooms to ours. Although I did try to explain to Lissa that we were there to work and not play, no matter how much the Jacuzzi was calling to me and my Russian hunk of a husband. She simply said that when Moroi go on a business trip it is also all expenses paid. She did have a point there. I also explained to her she would have to pay the bill when housekeeping charges us for ruined sheets and towels and carpets. Lissa was actually mad after one particularly brutal raid and she had to pay cleaning coast of four suites to get all the blood stains out.

When we got back to our suite the rest of the team was waiting. Slayer units were small. Consisting of one or two Moroi. In our case one because really we didn't need any more then Emily, a team leader: Dimitri, a second: Me, and three or four other guardians, depending on the Moroi composition, so in our case four. Seven total. It was a nice number to handle this sort of thing. Usually a Strigoi cell wasn't larger than five. The six or seven we saw tonight was a rare occasion. And with Emily assisting in the kills and distraction we actually had quite the advantage. We discussed strategy and decided we would move in just after dawn. Dimitri never liked going in in the dark if he didn't really have to. It provided us with an extra layer of protection and an exit strategy. It had saved us in more than one occasion. It also meant that the Strigoi were usually dormant. However, whenever we had an inkling there could be victims in there we moved during the dark. Although Strigoi shared, food never made it through the night.

In the early morning we were all gearing up. I felt like a regular buffy the vampire slayer. I had stakes strapped all over my body. Dimitri was more than happy to help me with the one strapped to my upper thigh. His eyes roaming over my legs and looking up at me with fire in them. I heard some whistling from the boys but they quickly shut up once they saw Dimitri's glare. We were a tight group and mostly rank didn't matter between us, but when the boss gave you a look to stop staring at his wife you complied.

Before we left the room I kissed Dimitri and he kissed me.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

He replied back.

We always did this before walking out the door. One last moment of romance before we put our game faces on. The rest was the same. We were all fun and games in the suite, but the moment we stepped across the threshold we were a lethal weapon.

A few hours later I entered the threshold again and let out a big sigh and was able to relax a bit.

"I keep buying new shirts. They keep ripping them apart. I am glad Lissa is picking up the tab on this one."

Dimitri laughed besides me. Now we were able to relax again and he was able to pull me in his arms and kiss me. We tried to stay all business while on the job, not just because of the others but because it was necessary.

"I don't mind."

He said as he pulled the hole across my chest open. He had a nice view of my cleavage from here.

I slapped his hand away.

"Shower first."

"I can multi-task." Dimitri had become a lot more open about certain things. Certainly when we were along, he was sometimes actually a bit of a flirt.

Dimitri pulled of his own torn shirt revealing his muscular and now scarred back.

Although we had made it out of all situations so far, evident by us still breathing, we didn't come out of every mission unscathed. They had left their mark on us, literally. There was a bite scare on the side of his neck and a particularly nasty scare on my back and side showing just how close we had some sometimes. I didn't mind too much, it made him look even sexier. Although every time I run my fingers over the scar I can still see the moment in front of me. Sometimes I would see the caves, but I was glad to know that those memories weren't coming back that often. But this time it was mostly bumps and bruises.

"Let's check each other out first."

Dimitri turned around raising his eyebrow and looking me up and down. God he was supposed to be foreign and not get the double meaning of those words. But he got out the medical kit anyway. I took of my shirt and pants just leaving me in my panties and bra. Dimitri was stripping down as well.

He sat down in front of me first with his back turned to me. I washed off most of the blood and checked which wounds would need further treatment.

"I think this one needs stitching."

He nodded.

"you want some numbing agent?'

He turned around and looked at me funny. I knew Dimitri always refused. Why I didn't know. I always wanted it. Somehow getting a wound fixed after the adrenaline had left your system was a lot more painful than getting the wound in the midst of battle.

I had been getting rather skilled at suturing. I had actually asked a doctor to teach me a bit and he showed me how. At first we would have medical staff waiting for us when we got back from missions but now there were just too many units out there for each to have their own medical staff. We did always inform the local Moroi clinic we would be going on a raid and to keep supplies on hand. But today we hadn't needed it. We called in the alchemist to clean up but otherwise all in all it was a good day. The worst injury was a broken rib and that didn't need medical attention. We all knew how to bind a broken rib and the only thing that would require was rest.

"All done. You look pretty again. I'll put a membrane over it once we get out of the shower."

Dimitri checked me over but found nothing in need of stitches. After the shower we would see which wounds would still bleed and bandage those. The prospect of the shower now taking precedence of our wounds. Battle always got us riled up. I wondered if we should see a shrink about that one.

After we got out of the shower, thoroughly satisfied, Dimitri called Hans to talk to him for debriefing.

"Lissa wants us back at court. There aren't any missions we can go on right now."

That was fine with me. We had been on the road for the past month and I was getting a bit homesick.

I know that some of our team would also like to go home. Adam in particular. He had a wife and child at home and only joined the team because he needed to extra pay. He was actually pretty good but we all protected him a bit to make sure he would see his family again. He had the cutest little boy and I would hate for him to lose his father.

Things had gotten better for guardians and Dhampirs in general when it came to family life. It was now more accepted for guardians to have a home life and to marry. I do like to believe that Dimitri and I had a hand in that.

We said our goodbyes to everyone and made our way to court.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN**

 **This is a story taking place after Ruby circle and refers to some stuff in the bloodline series. If you have read them you can skip the others note. If you haven't, I will outline the most important things for this story: Spoiler Alert.**

 **Restored Dhampirs (from Strigoi) can have kids with other Dhampirs. In bloodlines a Dhampir named Olive was restored, slept with another Dhampir and got pregnant. she hid to conceal her pregnancy. She died shortly after giving birth to Declan and his father thought it was too dangerous to raise him. People might find out Declan was a product of two Dhampirs. So Adrian and Sydney were raising him as their own son.**

 **Alchemist have tattoo's on their faces, infused with Moroi blood that holds compulsion. When Alchemist go out of line they increase the compulsion to make them more compliant.**

 **There are illegal versions of the tattoo that give human temporary strength, speed or highs depending on what they put in the tattoo.**

 **Resorted Moroi/Dhampirs are immune to turning and Olives blood was used as a vaccine. Her blood was tattooed (with an alchemist tattoo) on someone else who couldn't be turned either. However the spirit in the blood of a Restored person is unstable. Although their own immunity is lifelong, the effect in their blood is temporary**

 **Adrian and Dimitri are cousins. They ran into Dimitri's father: Randall, in a Dhampir commune. He was obviously there for female company.**

 **Maybe I'll come across some minor points and let you know if you need some inside knowledge but for now I think it covers the basics. Also gives a bit of a clue where I am going with this story**

Chapter 2

It was evening by the time we arrived and court was just starting to wake up.

I was told Lissa was in a meeting already so we just made our way towards the apartment. When we weren't living in hotel rooms or were on campus, Dimitri and I had our own suite inside the palace. As the primary guardians of the Queen and her husband we were never far from them. Our rooms where adjacent to Lissa's and Christians'. Something Lissa and I loved but Dimitri and Christian didn't always appreciate. Certainly not when Lissa wanted to tell me something and she would simply barge in and jump on the bed while my dear husband had something completely different in mind. I actually it had gotten worse after the bond was broken. Normally Lissa would just have to squeal in her mind and I would eventually make my way towards her but now we actually needed face to face contact. Hence the early sessions of love interrupted.

We also shared a kitchen and a living and dining room although we each had our own small versions as well. Well ours was smaller, Lissa's and Christians' was still huge.

"He sparky, that had better be breakfast you are making because I am starving."

He turned around and he actually smiled when he saw us walk in. It was the same whenever he returned from a mission. I knew they kept him well protected like how we protected Adam but still it is a dangerous job and we were always grateful when he would be home safe. He returned the favor.

"What would you like? I am making scrambled egg whites, fresh fruit and oatmeal."

I scrounged up my nose. Those were very healthy options.

"I was thinking more along the line of pancakes or something."

I saw Dimitri role his eyes.

"It wouldn't kill you to try something healthy you know." Christians said with an exasperated look on his face.

"No, but I might die tomorrow regardless and I cannot live with the fact my last breakfast was made out of outmeal and egg whites."

Dimitri chuckled, even though we were joking about it, this was the story of our live, always wondering if this was the last time we did anything. Sometimes it was depressing but mostly it just made us enjoy the moment. We had our own little ritual whenever one of us would leave the house. It didn't matter if we were at court behind wards or not, but we weren't allowed to leave the other before kissing them goodbye and telling them you loved them. Lissa had once said it was sweet how we always said I love you to each other every day. She thought it was romantic. I hadn't clarified it was that if one of us wouldn't return the last thing they had heard from the other person was I love you. We always kept this up even when I was thoroughly pissed at Dimitri. We never parted without saying I love you.

"I have some whole wheat flour for pancakes?"

I gave up and just gave in, throwing my hands up in surrender and frustration. Dimitri was already helping Christian in the kitchen making breakfast.

We were just setting breakfast on the table when Lissa walked in.

"Argh I hate early morning meetings. I can't think without having breakfast. But they said it was an emergency, it is always and emergency and what those royals think is an emergency doesn't even register on my calendar as 'for next week'."

Ohh Lissa was grumpy, but she perked up when Christian put food in front of her.

"So everything went okay with the mission."

I nodded while inhaling a piece of pancake. Dimitri had put some fruit on it and I reluctantly ate it, although it was actually very good. But I would never let him know that.

"A cell of seven Strigoi. And no major injuries or losses so a very good mission."

"That is good. Because I think it will be your last mission for a while."

"Why."

I saw her fidgeting with her dress a bit and I saw Christian looked a bit nervous too.

"Well I kind of want you guys around from now on. Something has changed and I want my best friend and trusted guardian by my side."

"What has changed?"

She blushed and was fidgeting with her dress again.

"Well, I am pregnant."

She beamed and I saw she had tears in her eyes. I was momentarily stunned before I hugged her and congratulated her. I saw Dimitri do the same to Christian.

I turned to Christian.

"So who is the father?"

I asked with a smirk in my face and got hit in the arm by Lissa for it. But I relented and congratulated Christian as well.

"So that is what all this healthy crap is about."

Lissa nodded.

"I am trying to eat healthier for the baby. Christina read all these articles on nutrition and development of the baby, not just when I am pregnant but also after he or she is born."

Oh I so hope they weren't going to be those kinds of parents. You know those that obsess about everything to see if it is 'good' for the baby. I always thought happy mommy, happy baby and if mommy was happy with the occasional greasy pizza then so be it.

"So how far along are you?"

"About eight weeks. I went to see the doctor two days ago. We saw the heartbeat. I have known for a few weeks but you can't actually see anything until week seven or eight. I am waiting to tell people till I am at least through my first semester. I just hope this will finally shut those royals up about the Dragomir line. They have been pestering me about becoming pregnant since I took the throne."

I knew that was true. They had been pressuring Lissa and Christian to marry and start a family and although that was their plan all along, they have done it at their own pace in their own time.

"Well I am happy for you guys."

I was surprised at my own tone. I felt a pang of something in me. I was happy for them, but I realized I was also jealous. I don't think Christian or Lissa noticed, they were in their own world but I saw Dimitri look at me intensely.

After that conversation rolled back to gossip at court and the workload of Lissa. I was listening as I was just fiddling with my food. Pushing it around on my plate. After breakfast I said goodbye to Lissa saying I had some business in my room.

It didn't take Dimitri long before following me into our bedroom.

"Roza, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

He turned me around so I could look at him.

"Then why are you crying."

I touched my face. I didn't realize I was.

"Rose, I saw the way you were looking at Lissa with longing. I know when we found out about Declan we said that was a conversation for the future, you were nineteen at the time, but if that is something you want we can talk about it."

I remember the day Adrian told us who Declan's father was and how it was possible. I remember how I felt. Excited, amazed, petrified, relieved I hadn't gotten pregnant yet and also a little disappointed.

I hadn't missed the look of pure joy on Dimitri's face either, but I made it very clear if I wasn't ready to marry at nineteen I was definitely not ready to be a mother at that age. So we just concluded that whether we did end up having kids or not, it was nice to know we had the option.

"Do you want to have children with me?"

Dimitri asked. There was a hint of nervousness in his voice. We always said it was nice knowing we could, but that didn't mean we would. I know he always feared that I didn't want to have kids.

"Of course I do. It scares me how much I want this. I mean what if we try and we can't. With Declan it was the woman that was turned back, maybe it doesn't work the other way around and Olive was still newly turned, we know that the amount of spirit decreases in your system. I don't know if I can go through that, it will break my heart if we can't have kids, if I can't give you that."

My voice broke a bit at the end.

Dimitri lifted my chin up to him.

"Rose, whether we can't have kids, or decide not to, I want you to know, you are enough for me. You have always been enough. It won't change anything."

"And what if it does succeed, look at our life Dimitri, will I be alive long enough to even carry this child or raise it. What if I can't have kids because of all the times I was kicked in the stomach? I mean didn't you ever wonder why we didn't conceive in the first year before we found out about Declan? And what about the way they were conceived? Neil isn't in Declans life because he and Olive both feared they would hurt Declan. She even died for it. How are we going to hide this? And what about our jobs? I won't be like my mother and abandon my daughter at an academy but I don't know how to not be a guardian either."

I had been thinking about this ever since I found out about Declan. But I had shelved this away for later. But Lissa being pregnant triggered something in me. It just showed how easy it was for a Moroi. Even if conception itself wasn't a problem, the very nature of our lives and that of the baby was.

I heard Dimitri take a deep breath and a small smile came across his face.

"Rose, the reason we didn't conceive in that year is probably because we hardly saw each other, between you going to Lehigh and me in Palm Springs, I was glad if we had some alone time once a week. I know you have all these fears, I have them too, but if this is something we want we can find a way."

I nodded.

"I just wish I could talk to Lissa about this, but she doesn't even know it might be an option for us."

"I can't believe I am saying this, maybe you should talk to Adrian. He and Sydney might be alright with us telling Lissa and Christian in confidence."

There was a knock on the door and Lissa poked her head inside.

I was now in the crook of Dimitri's neck while he rubbed circles on my back.

"Can I come in?"

Dimitri looked at me and I nodded. He let go of me and left us alone to talk. I just didn't know what to say.

"I am sorry Rose. I had no idea that this was such a big deal for you."

"Honestly Lissa, neither did I. and don't apologize, a baby is never a bad thing. It's a beautiful thing, and I am happy for you guys. "

"Well, there are other ways for you two to have a child, maybe consider a sperm or egg donor or you can adopt."

I hated lying to Lissa. But Dimitri was right, I needed the okay from Sydney and Adrian first. This concerned Declan more than anything and it wasn't my secret to tell even if it did involve me.

"Maybe, but it is more than that. Maybe I am just a little bit jealous on how you are free to make those decisions. Even if we did manage to get a child from somewhere, we are still guardians and we go on slayer missions all the time. Maybe sometimes I just wish my life was a little easier."

Well this was as close to the truth as I could get.

"Well I hope that now that I am pregnant you guys will understand if I want you around. I know it is still hard work, but as guardian jobs go, you are in a big team of royal guards and you are mostly behind wards."

Lissa was right. This was as good a time as any to start trying for children, you know besides the fact they weren't supposed to be possible, might still not be possible and might shock our world when people find out.

"You are right Liss, I guess I am still in slayer mode. I suppose it will be easier from now on."

She hugged me tightly before going back to daily businesses of a queen.

That afternoon I decided to take Dimitri up on his offer and I called Adrian.

"Hey little Dhampir, how is it going? Survived I see?"

"Well you can't actually see me, you can only hear me, maybe this is a recorded message?"

He laughed.

"No, but everything go okay? I hadn't heard from you guys in a while."

"Yeah, everything okay, we have just returned from our last slayer mission. Lissa called us back to stay with her at court."

There was a bit of silence on the other line.

"Did she tell you why?"

"Yeah, but I can't tell you."

"Oh Rose, I know she is pregnant."

"She told you before she told me?"

I asked a little indignant.

"No. We saw them a few weeks ago and I could see it in her aura, but I didn't say anything. I didn't know if she knew yet so I waiting for her tell me."

"Oh."

Silence again.

"Rose, I can practically feel some resentment over the phone. Is that why you called me?"

Man I really have to work on my guardian mask. Even if it is over the phone.

"I kind off broke down in my room when she told me. I didn't mean to, but she picked up on the fact I was jealous."

"Rose, you don't have to be jealous, you are probably the only Dhampirs out there that don't have to be jealous."

I took a big breathe. I told him the short version of what I told Dimitri this morning.

"I understand, but I don't know how I feel about Lissa knowing. I mean I trust her as a friend but as a Monarch she has an obligation to put her people first. I have studied Declan. His spirit component is stable. Whereas Olive's blood had to be preserved immediately to still be able to work as a vaccine. When she learns of this I am afraid she will still put everyone else's needs before Declan's."

I think I agreed with Adrian. Although Lissa would never hurt a child she was all about the greater good, not to mention she was always very interested what spirit did. Her curiosity might push her a little bit further in this topic then her morals would usually allow.

"Does that mean, if I do get pregnant I would have to lie to her?"

"I don't know Rose, I just don't know how she will react. If she wasn't a spirit user I would just tell her and if she reacted badly compel her to forget again, but I can't."

"Well what if we don't tell her about Declan's aura. I mean she has seen him on occasion. She hasn't noticed anything. What if we simply tell her that Olive's transformation healed whatever part it was that stopped her from conceiving with other dhampirs?"

"That might work. Hold on Sydney just walked in. I'll talk to her."

Adrian put the phone down for a minute to talk to Sydney. I could hear them discussing it in the background but couldn't actually make out any words.

"Hello?"

I heard a small voice on the other side of the phone.

"Hi Declan. How are you."

"Auntie Rosie!"

I swear he was the only on allowed the call me Rosie, everyone else who did got hit in the face.

"When are you and uncle Dimitri coming over again. I have some new toys I want to show you guys. Uncle Eddie likes them. Are you still on that special mission trying to save everybody?"

"Actually Declan, we are at court now with Lissa, but I promise we will visit soon."

"Okay."

I heard some shuffling behind the phone, they pressed a button and I think I was on speaker phone.

"Hey Rose."

"Hey Sydney what's up?"

"Nothing much. Adrian told me what's going on."

I sighed.

"Look I am sorry to bother you guys with this…"

"Oh don't Rose. I know it is a big decision and I can image you need other people to talk to than just Dimitri. I understand you not wanting to lie to Lissa, but you know you can always come to us too right?"

"Yeah I know. There are just so many things going on in my head right now. But a big part of it is protecting Declan and maybe in the future our children."

"Actually we might have a solution to one of your problems." Adrian piped in.

"What?"

"Well what if you told everyone that I am the sperm donor. Sydney can fake some papers from a fertility clinic and if the child comes out looking like Dimitri we can just blame it on shared Ivashkov genes."

"Actually that does sound plausible but I don't know if Dimitri will go for that."

"Actually it was his idea."

My mouth dropped.

"When did Dimitri talk to you?"

"A few months back."

"That son of a…"

"Relax Rose. He knew you would be stressing out about these things so he is trying to solve them before they become a problem."

"But we weren't even talking about having kids a few months ago. I mean we were two feet deep in Strigoi blood a few months ago."

"Well, what can I say, he plans ahead."

"I am going to kill him."

They both laughed.

I spend the whole afternoon in my room waiting for Dimitri to get off shift. Once he walked into our room I stood there with my arms crossed.

"Did you ever consider maybe talking to me first before giving Adrian intimate details of our lives?"

He just shrugged, actually shrugged. I didn't even think he and Adrian were that close. They had been getting better over the years, but there would always be a strain on their relationship, maybe because I betrayed Adrian for Dimitri and maybe because Adrian was the only other guy that had seen me naked.

"So what else have you been thinking about behind my back?"

"Roza. I don't think anyone can think things behind someone's back. And I just considered some options should the issue arise."

"Dimitri, I…"

There was a knock on the door.

"Hold that thought, this conversation isn't over yet."

I opened the door and I saw Hans stepping in.

"Hey Croft, what can we do for you."

He handed us a file. I opened it and looked inside. I groaned and handed it to Dimitri.

"I am sorry, I know you were looking forward to some downtime, but your squad in the only one not on assignment right now and it is just too close to court not to at least check it out."

I sighed deeply. I saw Dimitri have the same resignation. We agreed to meet Hans tomorrow morning for briefing.

"Well I guess that answers that question."

I said as I plopped down on the coach.

"What?"

"Well if we were deciding whether or not we should have children, the decision is now made for us."

"Roza, it is just one mission."

I got up angry.

"There will always be one more mission. The only time when we will ever get rest is when all Strigoi are extinct."

"Rose, if this is something we want we can decline. We are Royal guardians, we have a job here at court, the slayer unit is on voluntary bases. We don't have to take another mission."

"I know, it's just… I don't know if I cannot go. If I know there are Strigoi nearby… I don't know if I can sit here and do nothing."

Dimitri walked closer to me and took my hand. It was enough. He didn't need to say anything. I knew he felt the same. We were warriors through and through. If there was a fight to be had we were first in line. But it would mean leaving our children behind and possibly not coming back. I didn't know if I wanted to do that to our children. We had a choice in the matter and a responsibility to our future children to not let them become orphans. And to do that we had to stop putting ourselves in the midst of danger.

It was a choice again between our personal life and our duty. 'They come first.'

I buried myself in Dimitri's chest and let out a small sob. It would always be the same. We were the best out there, people depended on us. I didn't know if there would be ever a time when they didn't.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

DPOV

It was an hour before briefing and Rose was busy with Lissa. Now that Lissa had told Rose she was pregnant she went a little overboard with telling Rose everything. Rose was taking it well, trying to be supportive but I saw the sadness behind her eyes. I think last night we decided that at least for now kids weren't an option. It was frustrating because I knew we both wanted it. For years I thought I was the only one. I knew she wasn't opposed to the idea, but I always forget she is a lot younger then me and in this case the way she was brought up didn't help either. Rose knew what it was like growing up with a guardian parent. I also knew that retiring wasn't an option for us. Being a guardian is who we were. But at least at court we could more easily combine it with a family. But Hans' visit was a wake-up call. We weren't normal guardians, we were slayers. I touched the back of my neck. Slayer units were awarded a special addition to their promise mark, also we were awarded a zwesda every time we got back from a mission. I couldn't keep count of how many Strigoi we had killed. I couldn't even keep track of the number of zwesda's on my neck and now also running down my spine.

I loved tracing Rose's marks. They started from her neck but now reached into the dip of her back. They were two by two and I imagined I had a similar pattern on my back.

Rose walked in and I saw she was tired. Tired of trying her best to be happy for her best friend while at the same time coming to terms with the fact that that was not our future. It surprised me how much this was affecting Rose. She knew I wanted kids, I never made a secret of that. I had seen the look on her face when Adrian told us about Declan. She was scared but I couldn't hide the excitement and wonder in my face. But she was nineteen at the time. I guess Rose did have some growing up to do. I mean it was the same with me marrying her. Even if she knew we would spend the rest of our lives together she simply felt she was too young to get married. So I waited and eventually she agreed. I had hoped it would be the same with kids. It was frustrating to know that even if she was ready now, our world wasn't. But really there is never a good time to start having kids. They are a lot of work either way.

I grabbed her hand as we are walking into the room with Hans.

There were already a few people there. Some of our own unit that were stationed at court were here too but there were also some alternated because not everyone could be called in on such short notice. I was glad to see Adam had remained home. I had seen the file. This wouldn't be an easy task.

"There is a cell an hour out of court. Initial intel showed at least five Strigoi."

Hans pointed at the map.

"There is one entrance into the building and access roads here and here."

Five wasn't anything we hadn't handled before. Our squad consisted of eight people today, but some were new and didn't know how we operated which made it more difficult also the fact that there was virginally no exit strategy other than killing them all had me worried.

Within the hour we were on our way. We were in guardian mode at the moment, but I felt Rose fidget beside me.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Lissa, she was furious with Hans and with me for taking the job, she wants me by her side now, she is afraid something will happen to me. To us."

I nodded.

"Is it selfish of me to want that too?"

Her voice was small. I had been asking myself the same question since last night. Maybe I would discuss it with Hans when we got back. Well not mention the fact we were thinking about having a baby but about wanting to be there more for Lissa and Christian without feeling like we were failing in our duty.

I kissed her on the head. She looked at me shocked, usually I wasn't so affectionate, certainly not when we were in guardian mode, but I just had to. I had a bad feeling about this mission.

All thoughts were banished from our heads once we arrived at our destination. I brushed my hand one more time over Rose's before it settled on my stake. After organizing our party we moved out and charged through the door. Rose and I were always the first ones in and the last ones out. It was no different now.

I saw my first Strigoi and I noticed Rose had engaged another one. I counted seven not five, but still there were eight of us so we should be able to handle this. The Strigoi I was fighting was old and strong. I was having a hard time. I was able to defend against his attacks but couldn't turn the fight around on him. As it turns out I didn't have to. I saw his eyes glaze over and he fell forward. My beautiful wife was behind him with a smile on her face and blood on her stake. She had taken down hers and I saw several others now engaging the last two Strigoi. We were almost done. I let out a breath of relief. This wasn't going bad at all. When the last two Strigoi were nothing more than lifeless bodies on the floor I called the retreating sign. Rose and I would do one more swoop to make sure there weren't any victims or Strigoi left behind. We made our way up the stairs giving each other hand signals to illustrate our next move. We entered room after room but found it empty. The last room we went in together. It wasn't empty but there was nothing we could do. I walked up to the body and closed the eyes on the unfortunate soul that had crossed paths with a Strigoi and became food. I didn't know if the endorphin induced smile on his face was a comfort or not.

We had cleared the house and were going back downstairs when I heard footsteps behind us. Rose turned around and I saw she heard it to. But it was too late. I felt something hard hit me in the head and the last thing I noticed before passing out was Rose falling unconscious beside me.

third POV

"What do you mean, they are gone?"

"Your majesty. After we exited the building after we were given the all clear we noticed Guardian Belikov and Hathaway did not follow us out. We were also missing two other guardians that joined in on the mission. It is normal for them to do a last sweep before we call it a success but we are sure there weren't any more Strigoi in there. When we went back in all we found was their communication gear."

Lissa was getting lightheaded, she sat down in her chair and Christian was right by her side.

"I told Hans I didn't want them to go on missions anymore. I told him."

Lissa whispered to Christian who was trying very hard not to let her panic.

"So what happened?" Christian asked.

"We don't know. All we know is that they are gone and we cannot find the other two either, but their communications gear was disconnected not discarded."

"What does that mean?" The Moroi queen asked with clear fear evident in her voice.

"It means, Liss, that they were kidnapped by the other two guardians." Christian answered as he came to the same conclusion as the other guardians standing before him.

"Well who are they?"

"We looked into their files but found nothing out of the ordinary. But we do think they had infiltrated our unit for this purpose. They were after Dimitri and Rose. They question is just why."

Lissa put her head in her hands and cried. Christian dismissed the rest of the people in the room and crouched down next to his pregnant wife.

"Don't worry Liss, whoever took them, took them for a reason. I am sure they are fine, we just need to find them."

She nodded but kept on crying none the less.


	4. Chapter 4

Bloodline spoiler:

In fiery heart Sydney was taken to a re-education centre (brainwashing). They found out she was in a relationship with a Moroi (Adrian), and of course they didn't tolerate that, she was tortured for months to adhere to the alchemist creed. A sleeping agent they pumped into the vents at night prevented Adrian from dreamwalking Sydney as formulating a rescue plan.

Chapter 4

DPOV

I woke up with a killer headache. It had been a long time since I had been knocked unconscious. I saw Rose coming out of it as well. I crawled over to her and she groaned when she opened her eyes but smiled when she saw I was hanging over her.

"What happened?"

We got up and looked around the room.

"That is what I would like to know."

It was clear we were taken for a reason. The room was locked and had no windows and functioned as a prison for us but it was also furnished and had a bathroom. Neither Rose nor I was restrained in any manner. I had a brief flashback to Russia when I held Rose but I quickly pulled myself out of that. I needed to focus.

"I don't know what they want from us, but it is clear we were their target."

"Who? Strigoi?"

"Maybe, but I don't think so. We would be dead now."

"Who would want to take us though?"

"Take us I don't know, but I know we are a symbol of success for the progressive camp. I imagine the more conservative don't really like us."

Rose threw her hands up in the air in frustration and immediately regretted it and grabbed her head.

"So, not only do we have to take into consideration that we could die from Strigoi and are bound by duty but now stupid Royal Moroi are against us too. We can't win."

"We are alive that is all that matters right now. I am sure Lissa is already looking for us."

"Alive for now."

As soon as Rose said it the doors to our 'suite' opened and a man I recognized quite well stepped in. I wasn't surprised to see him here actually if my theory was correct and we were being detained by conservative Royals. Before us was my uncle Nathan Ivashkov.

"Well, I do hope you two will survive. You are kind of our last hope."

The way he said it though didn't sound desperate or in need of help.

"What do you want? Why are we here?"

I asked my arms crossed over my chest. I was standing tall in front of him and although he felt confident enough with six guardians at his back, I saw him take a step back.

"You two can help our people by helping us with an experiment. So far the results have been… disappointing but I am sure that the two of you who have already died once or twice in your case (he said while looking at Rose) will have no problem surviving this."

"What kind of experiment?"

I heard the fear in Rose's voice. Years of training prevented anyone else in the room from hearing it, but I could tell. I shared her sentiment. Dying we were prepared for, hell we were used to it. But the way Nathan was describing this experiment was sending chills down my spine. And I knew enough about Nathan to know that when he says it will benefit our people, he mostly means himself.

"We have made some interesting contacts and we have come up with a solution to our Strigoi problem. Dhampirs are simply too weak. They make up for it by their training and numbers but those have been plummeting over the years. And the queen refuses to hear my please for breeding programs. So the solution is simply, make Dhampirs stronger. We know human warriors have used Moroi blood in alchemists tattoo's to enhance their strength. So we thought we would do the same to Dhampirs."

"That won't work. We already have the benefits of Moroi blood in our genetics."

I told him a bit exasperated. But instead of looking offended he was starting to form a creepy smile on his face.

"Yes, we wouldn't be tattooing you with Moroi blood. We would be using Strigoi blood. Image if Dhampirs had the strength of Strigoi, we would have created the perfect soldiers."

Rose and I just stared at him. He was insane. It would definitely level the plane field but it was impossible. Strength comes at a price. And the price for Strigoi strength was losing your soul.

"So far though, all Dhampirs we have tried this on have had an… adverse reaction."

The man had a talent for beating around the bush. I wondered for whose benefit it was. He was obviously not concerned with our mental health due to this news so I wondered why he was using euphemisms instead of being straight with us. But I guess years of being in royal circles and never saying exactly what you mean, had made it second nature.

"They either reject the blood and die from an immune response or they turn."

Rose and I stepped back. That is why he wanted me, I couldn't turn, but what about Rose?

"So we decided to try it out on you two. We already know you can accommodate Strigoi power but are immune to turning and Rose has come back from the dead twice, let's see if she can come back a third time."

I stepped in front of him.

"No. Use me. I'll volunteer, I have the best chance of this working anyway. Just leave her out of it."

He scrunched up his nose.

"Your affections towards her are sickening. Both of you should have lend your bodies to the continuation of your race and the survival of ours, but instead you chose to create an unnatural and pointless bond."

With that he turned around and walked out. I was certain I could take on six guardians and get us out of here, I saw Rose make the same deduction. But before either of us could make a move I saw the guardians had a breathing mask on and I felt myself getting dizzy again. They were pumping in a sedative through the vents. I guess he did have alchemist friends. I recall Sydney went through a similar thing.

We had been here for several days now. I don´t really know how many. It was hard to keep track when there was no window. Based on our meals it was probably day five or six.

"Well if they want to do experiments on us, why don't they just do it already. I don't want to be a labrat but I hate sitting around just waiting for death."

I know she was getting fidgety. So was I. We had been going over escape plans, we had been trying to sleep to see if Lissa or Adrian would visit us but nothing. I noticed that whenever we would doze off they would turn on the sedative again. It prevented us from going into REM sleep and thus preventing Adrian or Lissa from dreamwalking us. A smart countermeasure against dreamwalking. When Sydney was taken by the alchemists for re-education they used a similar approach. Although there it was to control their routine and not prevent dreamwalking, since they had no knowledge of the possibility. But I think with us it was Nathan's way of keeping us isolated from Spirit users.

"What do you think they are waiting for?"

I had been asking myself that question for five or six days now.

"They are missing an ingredient. Or the manufacturing process takes a long time. Maybe they have to wait on an alchemist to do the actual tattooing."

"Argh. I am going insane."

The door opened and Nathan walked in.

"Well you don't have to wait any longer. Indeed we needed another ingredient: fresh Strigoi blood. The alchemist will be here in the morning and then we will get started."

I saw someone in a lab coat walk around Nathan. He looked a little apologetic but I saw him eyeing Nathan apprehensively. I doubt he was here by choice. He was holding a case. He placed the case on the table next to the door and opened it. It had a vile and two syringes.

"An injection of immune-suppressants. To minimize the change of an adverse reaction. I suggest you take it."

Rose looked at me but we both decided it was our best bet. At least her best bet. Even if the whole concept was sick. In the end Nathan wanted us to live.

When they left again she crawled up to me and snuggled closer.

"Actually I prefer this. Last time I died or you did we didn't know, now we can at least say goodbye properly."

"We are not going to die. We aren't meant to die like this."

"I also wasn't supposed to die at fifteen in a car accident, and you shouldn't have died hours after we finally decided to be with each other, but we did. Besides I already died once giving my life for Lissa and you died in battle so maybe now we die in a less graceful way. We simply fade into nothingness by disease."

"Roza."

She turned around and looked at me.

"It's okay. We made it longer than most."

I felt her sob against my chest.

"It's a good thing we never had any kids, at least now we will not leave behind orphans."

I understood her depression. But we weren't dead yet. And I wouldn't have her spend her last hours like this.

"Roza. Even if all we have is tonight I am glad I get to spend it with you. At least this time I'll leave this world with you being the last thing I see."

She smiled and then I kissed her. It started slow but soon became desperate. We both knew this would probably be the last time we would ever be together. Because as much as I wanted to follow Nathan's delusional thought about us being the most likely to survive I knew we would probably end up the same as the rest. I just hoped Rose would die from an immune response instead of turning.

I was running my hand through her hair taking out the hair clip. I loved her hair. I tried remembering every strand, every sensation, every moan. My hand followed her body and made its way under her shirt. Her lips left mine for a brief moment as she took her shirt of. Mine followed. She was running her hand down my abs and kissing my neck and chest.

I pulled back for a moment. I knew from the timing of sleep agent that they were monitoring us.

"They have cameras here don't they."

I asked her and she looked up to me. I saw her contemplate this and a small smile came across her face.

"Then let's give them a show"

I was a private person. The thought of someone being able to see our most intimate interactions was not appealing. I know Rose was a bit more adventurous and secretly liked the thought of people watching but mostly it was the idea of being able to get caught that was enough for her. Now we were blatantly on camera. But for once I didn't care. This could be the last time I was with my wife and I would hold her and kiss her and make love to her until they would pry her away from me.

Our pants were next and when I joined my body with hers I couldn't help but cover us up a bit. Not that the sound of my skin pounding against hers wasn't illustrative to our activities. Neither were our moans for that matter. But I didn't care. I needed her and she needed me. Because no matter what way this would go, our lives would change for ever. But I didn't think about that at the moment. Morning could have been eons away. Tonight I was making sweet love to my beautiful wife. We made love deep into the night.

third POV

They were watching the camera's. They had been waiting for this moment the entire week. Although their bantering was fun to watch, this was basically like watching porn at work. What man didn't like the idea of that? Besides they had all been waiting to see Rose Hathaway naked. Her beauty was legendary. They were sorely disappointed when the Russian covered most of the good bits.

"Well I know at least one perk of being married to another guardian. This is round three already."

One of them said.

"I know, my Moroi girlfriend can't keep up with that."

The boss walked in and looked at the camera's. There was a look of distain on his face. As if the fact that two Dhampir's were together was physically hurting him. But he didn't move. He stayed and watched the 'freak show' for at least ten minutes before he excused himself. Many guardians actually excused themselves for a bathroom break. Must be the new coffee.


	5. Chapter 5

Bloodline spoiler:

Eddie is Adrian's guardian.

Sydney became a witch and is able to perform spells and use elemental powers. Unlike Moroi magic, human magic isn't inherent and is drawn from energy and elements around them. The difference means human magic can negate the effects of Moroi magic as used for instance in the compulsion tattoos.

Chapter 5:

RPOV

We actually hadn't slept. Not because we weren't tired, we were spent after round four but, because I didn't want to miss one minute of the time we had left.

It was morning. How I knew this I didn't know but I knew it would only be minutes before they would take us away.

Regrettable I left my warm and safe spot naked next to Dimitri for some clothes. He did the same but the moment we were dressed we crawled up to each other again.

"I am a little sad I won't get to see Lissa's baby. Now I'll never know if Christian actually created hellspawn."

Dimitri laughed a bit. He pulled me closer to him and turned my head so I could look at him.

"Just promise me you'll fight. Fight the disease, fight the transformation, fight for us. And if fate finally does us in, promise me we will see each other on the other side."

"I promise. I am going to fight with everything I got. Because with my track record I honestly won't know if we would be going to the same place if we die."

"Well good luck to the God trying to keep me from you."

One last kiss before I felt the effects of that damn sedative again. I was trying hard to fight it. One last glance at my husband. We had been through so much together. I didn't know if after this we would be returning together to this room. I didn't know how long the process of turning or dying from rejection took. I tried to saver every last bit of him. His hair, his brown eyes, his scruffy stopple. There were too many things I wanted to commit to memory but not enough time as I felt the sedative take effect. My mind went blank.

Sharp. Electricity. Jolt of power. Blackness.

I woke up and felt a shiver run through me. I was cold. I looked around and I noticed Dimitri lying next to me, still unconscious. So I scooted over to him and buried myself in the nook of his chest and shoulders. He was warm and it helped a bit. Although I could feel myself aching all over. After a few minutes I felt Dimitri wake up as he was running his hand through my hair.

"God Rose, you are hot."

"I know, but I only have eyes for you."

He sighed.

"I meant your body is warm. To warm."

"Yeah I think I am spotting a fever. My body aches all over and I feel cold despite the fact I am hot. I am guessing I am the lucky one with the immune response. At least I didn't turn."

He pulled me closer as if he could protect me from my own body.

"How are you?"

I didn't know if he had a fever or not, he felt a little colder than me, but that didn't mean anything.

"Actually I am okay. I don't feel a whole lot different."

"Good."

"Rose just stay with me. I know you can fight this."

I wanted to believe him, but I was feeling like crap and I knew that was my body rejecting the Strigoi blood. I didn't know how long it took the others to die, but at least I was comforted by the fact I would be dying in my lover's arms.

I think I heard the door open and I felt Dimitri stiffen besides me but my head was too heavy to look up who was coming in.

I saw something white pass me by and I felt the needle sting as they were taking red liquid from me. Isn't that supposed to stay on the inside of me? I vaguely recognized they did the same to Dimitri.

"How is she doing?"

I could hear the fear in his voice. He was dreading the answer.

"She is past the deadline for turning. But she is running a high fever. But some were already gone by this point. I will keep monitoring her. As for you. No immune reaction, no signs of transformation. With you the experiment seems to have succeeded. Or at least didn't kill you, which is a vast improvement."

I was glad. Dimitri was going to be fine.

"Do you hear that Roza, he says you are getting better."

I heard what he had said. He didn't say I was getting better. I was just not as bad as some of the others. But I knew Dimitri would be holding on to hope till my last breath and so would I. If only so I can kick Nathan in the nuts for putting us through this.

third POV

"Why can't I contact her, Christian, what if she is dead?"

"I don't think so. It feels similar to when Sydney was taken by the alchemists. They are not asleep, they are sedated." Adrian informed a very distraught Queen.

When Adrian and Sydney and Eddie had heard of Rose's and Dimitri's disappearance they had made their way to court with Declan. To try and help in any way they can and to try and calm Lissa down. She had been a mess. She blamed Hans for their disappearance. They shouldn't have been on a mission in the first place. And he had no idea about the whereabouts of the two guardians that took them. They both had exemplary records but had abandoned their station because they never got back from the mission.

"I am looking more into the backstory of the two guardians. Up until a few months ago they were the cream of the crop, both guarding a high ranking family. But their charges did mention they were different the last couple of months. I am trying to see if they had overlapping destinations."

Adrian was looking through their files. He, Eddie and Christian had been going over them a million times the last few days.

"The only thing I can find is a royal party a few months back. Both guardians were there."

"Who else was there, Maybe if we question other guardians that were there we could find something?" Eddie commented.

Luckily with the Strigoi threat, high level events like that were registered and there was a list of attendees.

"Three guardians that were there are stationed here at courts and one is here now with his charge, we can call them in and see if they have seen or heard anything."

A few hours later and three guardians interviewed they had learned nothing. All their hopes were on the last guardian. The one who was visiting.

"Do you mind if we ask you questions about the royal function a few months back."

Lissa started. And of course the guardian shook his head. Who could refuse their Queen?

"Have you noticed anything strange? There are two guardians missing and the only thing that they seem to have in common is that function."

The demeanor of the man changed. He was no longer looking Lissa in the eye, he was staring straight ahead. The look on his face blank.

"I didn't see anything strange."

There was no emotion in his voice, it sounded flat and robotic.

"Do you know these two guardians?"

"No."

This was not a normal human response. It was a rehearsed response. But the man in question didn't seem to know it.

Sydney walked over to the man.

"Any new tattoo's lately?"

He shook his head.

"bend over please."

"Why?"

At least that sounded more like a person.

"Because your queen commands it."

Lissa piped up from her throne, with all the authority she could master.

The man bend down and Sydney inspected the marks on his neck.

"The promise mark is freshly tattooed over. I think it was tattooed with a compulsion spell in it. Maybe that is why the guardians took Rose and Dimitri, they were compelled to."

"Hold on just wait."

Sydney said as she left the room. It took her 15 minutes but she came back with a bag of supplies. Syringe, needle, sterilized water, salt and dirt.

"I can break the compulsion."

She held her hands over the bottle of salt and the air picked up around her, the water was swaying a little and the dirt started to stir. She then held out her hand and made a fireball which she channeled into the salt. She mixed it in with her water and pulled some up in the syringe.

"I don't know if it will work on Dhampirs, seeing as they already have Moroi blood in their system, but in theory this magic should negate the effects of compulsion by Moroi magic."

She injected the syringe into the skin of the guardian.

At first nothing seemed to happen. But after a few moment he grabbed his head and the blank look in his eyes seemed to lessen.

"Who contacted you at the party? Who tattooed you?"

You could see the man struggling. His eyes glazed over and came back into focus a few times until they stayed focused.

He looked at Adrian before answering with distain and a little pity towards Adrian in his voice.

"Lord Nathan Ivashkov."

Adrian sat down in a nearby chair. He had no illusions about his father. His father was a conservative royal bigot but what on earth did he want with Dimitri and Rose?

"Did he say anything about his intentions?"

"Just that if we didn't adhere to the natural order and do as the royals told us to do he would make us."

The guardian put his head in his hands.

"god I feel so stupid. I can remember the things he made me do. He wanted me to spy on my charges, get dirt on them. My charges are progressive so I suppose he wanted to get some leverage on them. There were four of us in the room that night. But I now know the look on the faces of the guardians that gave us the tattoos. They were being controlled to."

"Oh god, that is why he has got Rose and Dimitri. They are the symbol of progressiveness. Many guardians look up to them, for their skill, their commitment to duty but also because they have a life of their own."

All color seemed to drain from Adrian's. Adrian was quite sure his father was responsible for brainwashing his friends.

"I don't know Adrian, they have been gone for a week. Why would he keep them that long just to tattoo them? I think he has something else in store for them."

Sydney replied to her husband. Her husband who she saw getting smaller and smaller by the minute. She could understand. Her own father had traded alchemist secrets with the warriors of light to improve their strength using Moroi blood. Both men were extreme in their views. Despite both of them loathing each other, they really weren't all that different.

"But Dimitri is his nephew."

Lissa said indignant.

"He doesn't see it that way. He doesn't consider Declan family either. 'Dhampir blood will never be my blood'."

Adrian said the last thing imitating his father with a stern and unwavering voice.

Sydney sat down next to her husband. Her hand was on his and squeezed it. She was trying to see this as a positive. Even if that was hard.

"This will give us a lead to them." She said hoping he could see the silver lining.

He nodded but his heart wasn't in it. The cloud being to prominent.

"What will they think of me when they see me?"

"Adrian no, don't do this to yourself. They know that you are not your father. If anyone knows that it is Dimitri… or me."

He nodded but Sydney knew the fact that his father disowned him and didn't even bother to visit his son or grandson in five years was weighing down hard on him.

"Adrian is there anything you can do to help? Maybe you know of properties your father owns or something like that that could help us."

Eddie said with a gentle voice. Honestly all his friends' parents were a mess. Rose's parents were actually the most normal, which was saying something.

He was deep in thought. You could see him scanning his father known properties in his mind. Something crossed his face. Realization hit them all, that they had a lead.

"I might know something."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

DPOV

She was asleep in my arms. I kept focusing on her breathing hoping it would still be there. She was hot against me, both reassuring me she was still alive and worrying me because it meant her fever hadn't broke yet.

The doctor had come by a few times and administered medicine. He said she was lasting longer than most. But I saw in his eyes he didn't know if she would make it till morning.

I touched the back of my neck where they had tattooed me. They tattooed over our already existing promise mark so there was no extra indication anything had changed. I traced the tattoo. I found it strange it didn't hurt. I have had a lot of tattoo's and all of them had hurt. They would always be a little sore or red for a few days. But not this one. I wondered if I miscalculated and we had been out of it longer then I thought.

The doctor came in again.

He measured her temperature and felt her pulse. I was holding my breath waiting for what he had to say.

He had a mixed look on his face. I didn't know if that was good or bad. The last few days his look had mostly been that of pity towards me.

"So?"

I asked a little agitated.

"Her blood values have stabilized, which is a good thing, but her fever still concerns me. But she has officially lasted longer than any of the others. That in itself in promising. But she isn't out of the woods yet. We need to get her fever down. She can take a bath and try it that way?"

I nodded.

"not cold water. Lukewarm. We don't want to have her going into hypothermia either."

I nodded again.

He then took some measurements from me. I had been fine. If Rose had lasted longer than any of the others it also meant I did. And I didn't have a single symptom. I wasn't afraid anymore the doctor would find that I was sick, I was worried he would find something else.

"How about me, any… changes?"

"Your blood values are normal. We are waiting for Rose to either pull through or… before we begin testing you and her physically for alternations in strength and speed."

"She will pull through."

I all but growled at him. He nodded a hopeful nod before he left again. The speed at which he left the room was either testimony for his doubt in my words or the fear being generated by my animalistic tone.

I woke Rose up and made her eat some of her soup. She hadn't been eating much which was worrying me. A few days ago they put in an IV to give her some fluids and a banana bag, but they were able to take it out yesterday when she started to eat on her own again, even if it was only little bits.

"Come one, let's give you a bath."

She was tired I could see but even through all of that she tried to smirk my way.

"Yes orderly I am ready for my sponge bath."

I knew she was trying, trying to be herself, trying to sound like herself and ease my worried by trying to sound seductive and funny. But she was failing. The bags under her eyes and the tiredness in her voice gave way to her current state. Although I did prefer this Rose to the Rose a few days ago that was non-responsive and minutes away from death.

I ran the bath and I picked her up and sat in the bath with her. Honestly I didn't trust her to have enough strength not to drown.

She laid her head against me as my hands rested on her stomach and hip.

"You are going to be fine Rose."

I didn't know who I was convincing, me or her.

"I am trying, and I will do anything to stay with you. But you need to promise me something."

"What?" I would promise her anything. A lifelong of just pizza, done. Always having fresh donuts in the morning, done. Massaging her before we go to bed. Done

"If I do die, you need to let me go. Don't have Lissa bring me back, don't try weird medical procedures that Nathan would offer."

I would promise anything but not that. How could she ask me that?

"Roza, I can't promise that, if Lissa can help, hell even if Nathan can help I will try anything."

She turned around and looked at me pleadingly.

"Comrade, that would be the third time I die. I think I have cheated death enough. I don't want to leave you, I don't want to die. But I can't come back a third time either. It isn't right. So promise me."

I tried very hard to keep a straight face. I wanted to honor her wish. I understood it. But if she did die and I had a chance to change it I think I would take it.

"I promise."

She laid her head back down and I could see a smile creeping on her face.

"Liar."

She whispered while she settled back in. She knew me so well.

After the bath she felt a little cooler. We climbed into bed again but we did start by sitting up against the headboard of the bed. I was watching some tv but noticed Rose was asleep again within minutes of me starting the movie.

I was getting anxious. The doctor said they would be testing us as soon as we were able if there were alternation on strength and speed. I, however, was still trying to find an escape route. I knew Rose's best chance was in an actual hospital or Lissa. I knew they were invested in her here and wanted her to live but if and when they determined she was no longer viable they would discontinue all treatment.

I needed to get out of here and back to court.

I slowly got up from the bed, letting Rose down on the bed gently and walked around the room. It didn't have any windows and only one door but I was curious to know what was beyond these walls. Were we high up or deep in the ground? Were we in the middle of the complex or was the world just outside these walls. If I broke through this wall, would I hit a body of water and drown us?

I tried listening for days now, but there was always silence on the other end of the wall.

Until now.

I could hear rumbling. Like struggling.

Someone had found us.

I didn't waste a moment. I tried pounding on the door. When I noticed no gas was being pumped into our room I knew I had been right. They were busy with something else. I kicked the door. Once, twice, three times. But nothing happened. I was starting to get angry. Whatever was happening on the other side this was our best chance of escape.

I kicked it one more time, I felt power surging through me that felt somewhat familiar yet strange at the same time. The door flew off its hinges. The guard that was standing behind it flew with it. I only hesitated for a moment before picking up Rose and walking out.

"Comrade?"

"We are getting out of here."

I walked into the hallway with Rose in my arms. Our room exited onto a corridor again with no windows, which made me believe we were underground. Well where is an exit sign when you need one. I tried listening to the raging battle going on. Which direction did it come from?

I didn't know if I should move towards it or away from it.

I opted for the latter and moved opposite where the sounds where coming from.

I found a stairs leading up. Hopefully into the daylight, or nighttime, God knows what time it was.

When I emerged from the stairs I saw Nathan on his knees and his hands bound behind his back. Before him were the royal guard which we knew so well and Eddie, so no doubt Adrian was here too. When they saw us coming up the stairs I could see Lissa worm her way through her ample guards.

"Dimitri, you're okay, of my God Rose, is she okay? What happened?"

I glared at Nathan but didn't answer her question. He turned to me and there was satisfaction on his face. He would be in jail for his crimes but he did succeed.

"Lissa, can you see if you can heal Rose? She has a bad immune reaction to something Nathan did."

Lissa walked over to her immediately.

She placed her hands over but Rose stopped her.

"you promised."

"You're not dead yet, she is just speeding up the healing process."

"No. If I am going to die so be it. If I am going to live so be it. I have to do this myself. If Lissa heals me now, I won't have beaten the reaction and it will just come back. My own body needs to fight this."

I knew she was right. Her body needed to adjust to the tattoo. But I was scared. She was so weak. But I saw some strength come back to her when she spoke so passionately.

"Besides, I don't want to exert Lissa now that she is pregnant."

Okay guilting me in letting my wife die. That was a low blow.

"There is one thing I want to do though. Can you take me over to Nathan?"

I picked her up and cradled her close to me. I didn't want her to waste energy in Nathan, but I knew she needed to speak her mind to him, because she might not get a second chance.

She smiled at me as we came close enough to Nathan. She wiggled out of my arms despite my protests. She stood in front of me. Part of me was elated. She hadn't been able to stand for days now. A smirk came across her face when facing Nathan who was on his knees and hands cuffed behind his back. I caught on to late. Rose pulled her foot back and jammed it into his groin. Nathan doubled over and all I could hear was a whimpering from him. He couldn't exactly grab his busted balls so he tilted forward and lost consciousness. Rose having used up the last of her strength collapsed in my arms. She was already unconscious by the time I lifted her off the ground and against me safe and sound. That was my wife. Deadly ill but still using her last strength to do something so 'Rose'.

When we exited the premises I could see Adrian. He was watching his father being hauled into the van. I could see he was ashamed of him but he was also sad. It was his father after all. I know how hard it is to except that the person you should look up to as a man falls very very short of that image. I could also see loathing, I recognized that loathing, not for our fathers, but for ourselves, because weren't we 50% our farther. Did we have the same kind of evils inside of us? It took me a long time to realize that wasn't true. And I needed Adrian to believe it too.

I placed Rose in the ambulance and walked over to Adrian.

I was only a few feet away from him before he noticed me, so caught up in watching his father drive off.

"Hey Dimitri. So did he tattoo you two too?"

I was a little surprised he knew about the tattoo's.

"Yeah, how do you know that?"

"That is how he was able to get to you two. He used Moroi blood to work a compulsion spell into the tattoo. The two guardians that kidnapped you two were forced. Hell almost all guardians on this facility were forced. The alchemists have been doing it for years. But Sydney has found a way to reverse the effects, she is breaking the compulsion on the guardians now. But I am glad you two seem unaffected. God he is such an asshole, he really wanted to enslave Dhampirs."

"Adrian. He didn't take us for that reason. He didn't tattoo us with Moroi blood. He… He used Strigoi blood."

"Why?" The look of pure shock on his face was almost comical. No he didn't want obedient soldiers in us. He wanted the ultimate weapon.

"He seemed to believe that just like Moroi blood gave the wearer Moroi attributes Strigoi blood could do the same. He was convinced if we survived it would make us faster and stronger. I believe he wanted to make an army. An army of Strigoi strength warriors he could control."

"Well that is just crazy. I doubt it works that way."

I had hoped he was right, but after I kicked the door in, I wasn't so sure anymore. He saw my hesitation.

"It is crazy right?"

"He has been trying for a while, nobody had survived the procedure yet, either turning or dying from rejection. So he believed Rose and I were the key. I am resisted to turning and my body has already accepted Strigoi strength and speed once, and Rose is just too stubborn to die."

We both chuckled a bit at that.

"Rose rejected the blood and was really sick, but the doctor did say she was lasting longer than any of the others. I didn't have any response though."

"So the tattoo didn't do anything."

I sighed deeply.

"I thought so too at first. But Adrian, when I heard you guys come in I knew it was my shot to get Rose out of there. So I kicked the door in."

"So?"

"So, the door went flying off its hinges, into the corridor flying into the guard. Dhampirs are stronger than humans and Moroi and I am stronger than most dhampirs, but I shouldn't have been able to that Adrian. But it felt familiar. I have had that strength before. I remember it."

I pulled my hands through my hair. Adrian just stared at me. He was apprehensive about something.

"Dimitri. You also shouldn't have been able to hear us. This complex was designed as a bunker, the room he kept you guys in is the safe room. The walls are so thick you shouldn't have been able to hear us."

We just stared at each other. Better hearing, being stronger, it seemed that the tattoo was actually working. I wondered if Rose would experience the same things too.

"I am sorry he did that to you. I know how hard this must be for you."

He was right. My time as a Strigoi may be the only reason I survived but I still carried that guilt and those memories. I doubt they would ever go away. I had learned to live with them and enjoy my life again but thinking back to that time still hurt. When I felt the surge of power when kicking in the door I was momentarily hurled back to my time as Strigoi. It is weird because as Strigoi I relished in the feeling of power. It is weird now to have that kind of strength but not associate it with dominance. But maybe we were wrong. The building was old and that could explain both the door and the walls. I knew I was stretching it. But I had to believe it. I had to believe my days as Strigoi were over.

We just stayed like that for a while. Side by side staring into the distance. Until the girls came and found us. Sydney looked tired.

"I think that is all of them. He had over twenty guardians here under compulsion."

I saw Adrian cringe more. Sydney walked up to him and took his hand. This was going to be hard on him.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

DPOV

Rose and I were brought to the hospital at court. We were very familiar with the place and the place with us. We actually had our own room here. Between sparring and slayer mission we spend a lot of time here. But this was new to us and the doctors. They immediately hooked Rose up to machinery and an IV drip. They placed me in the bed next to hers and took vitals and some blood samples. But their main focus was on Rose.

Sydney was there helping the doctors, explaining what the tattoo was and how to deal with it, or not deal with it.

"Sydney, can they take the tattoo away. I mean that happens to alchemists too right. Or maybe just negate the effects using the same formula as you used to cancel the compulsion."

I asked hopeful. Although I trusted the doctors to take care of Rose physically, I knew mystically Sydney was our best bet.

"I don't know. Dimitri. Normally when an alchemists rejects the tattoo we have compounds which will erase the tattoo, but I assume Nathan already tried this. He had an alchemist help him and he would have tried to use as little amount of subject as he could as to not draw attention to himself. So I have to assume the results of that were disastrous. As for using human magic. It only works that way because the human magic over rights the Moroi magic in the tattoo. The effect of human magic on Strigoi blood is completely different. And going by the notion that Strigoi can't drink from witches I think the combination is volatile. I think Rose's best bet is to adjust to the tattoo."

I didn't like her answer. But at this point Rose was holding on. I wasn't willing to risk her life by trying something so dangerous just yet.

The doctor joined in the discussion.

"Actually I do believe Guardian Hathaway is going in the right direction. Although I am not sure how. Normally an immune response can be caused by a pathogen or a transplanted organ. The body recognizes it as 'not-self' and will try and combat it with antibodies and subsequent killer cells. There is no getting used to it. Either the body clears the pathogen or the pathogen invades and wins. What I am seeing here is remarkable. It's like her immune response suddenly started to see it as 'self' the leukocyte count is going down and the number of NK-cells has dropped back to zero. What caused the reaction I am not sure but it is saving her life."

I didn't care what was causing it. Of course Rose would make the scientific impossible, possible. I had an amazing wife. One who was going to live.

"As for you Guardian Belikov. I can't seem to find anything wrong with you. No immune reaction, no weird blood values. A slight dip in sugar and hemoglobin levels but I imagine you just need to eat something."

"So nothing… weird or out of the ordinary?"

"Not that I can see."

I let out a sigh of relief. I was fine, Rose was going to be fine. Nathan failed.

The next couple of days I stayed by her side. The doctors had discharged me a few moments after my tests had come in but they knew better then to ask me to leave. She was getting better. She actually had a little color on her cheeks again and she could stay awake a lot longer. We watched Netflix on her laptop and I had to endure hours of soap opera, but I would do anything for Rose.

Lissa had stopped by a few times. She always asked if she wanted her to heal her, but Rose always declined. Rose had also been getting better with dealing with Lissa's pregnancy. She had been happy for them, but there was a jealousy underneath. She was starting to let it go and was even enjoying talking babies and the wide range of pregnancy symptoms Lissa was experiencing. I tuned out of that one. Bad memories. I remember both my mother's pregnancy with Victoria and Karolina's pregnancy with Paul. Although Dhampirs usually didn't have that many symptoms, by family was certainly the exception to the rule. I shuddered at the thought. I felt sorry for Christian.

And when Rose fell asleep again I would slip into bed with her, even if hospital beds were too small for us both and I would just hold her. I was glad to notice her temperature had gone down dramatically.

After a few days the doctor agreed and she discharged Rose. She would still have to be on bedrest but at least she was able to go home.

RPOV

Dimitri brought me to our room. I was happy to leave the hospital. I hated it there. I died in there after Tasha shot me. I knew it was a necessary evil but I still hated the place with a vengeance. Now being back here, in our own room with Dimitri waiting on me, now that I could enjoy. But before I could enjoy the moment, Lissa was on our bed. She was hugging me. She had come by the hospital a few times but we just talked about nothing and of course the baby. I knew she was holding out on me, waiting for me to get better, before she went on a rampage.

I think Dimitri realized this too as he got out of bed and left the room with a smirk on his face. Traitor.

"Okay. Liss, let me have it.

"Rosemarie Hathaway, don't you ever do that to me again. I thought I wouldn't have to worry about you so much when I called you back from slayer mission's and then you pull this?"

" _I_ didn't pull this Lissa."

"Oh yes you did, trouble follows you around like a lost puppy, so of course when a deranged lunatic needed test subjects he had no choice but to kidnap you."

She was joking but she was also a bit right. Even when I wasn't looking for trouble, trouble found me. I knew she was scared. I knew she wanted me around for the baby not just as her guardian but as her friend.

"Is a deranged lunatic not a bit redundant?"

I asked jokingly? And trying to lighten the mood and succeeding.

Lissa laughed with me and we spend the next ten minutes trying to catch our breaths in between hysteric laughs. I had been too long.

"So what is the plan for today?"

"I thought we could do a little shopping for the baby, if you are okay with that?"

She was asking a little hesitant. She knew it was still a bit of a sore spot. But her laying out all of her symptoms in the hospital actually made me feel a little better. At least I was dodging that bullet. But even though I wanted a child with Dimitri above anything, I knew she was right about trouble following me. Even if I did stay behind the wards at court, trouble would always find me. And although I don't think I will ever make peace with not having kids completely I do need to move on and be the best friend I could be.

"Of course. I need to perform my auntily duties."

"Rose that is not a word."

"Well I am inventing it."

We giggled some more. It felt like old times, back when we were in high school.

"Rose, actually I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"I was wondering if you and Dimitri wanted to be the baby's Godparents?"

I laughed a little at that.

"Although I am honored Liss, if we need to step up as Godparents that means we failed in our duty as your guardians. It is a lot more likely we will be dead before you two are."

Her face fell. Sometimes I think Lissa forgets that our lives are very different. She was a good person and a good monarch. She really didn't see the difference between Dhampir's and Moroi. For good or bad.

"But on paper that just mean I get to spoil the kid right?"

She laughed and the topic of our untimely demise was forgotten. I also knew it was funny because even though being in a slayer unit and in the royal guard paid well, Lissa didn't need any help in that department. The thought of me spoiling the child where the parents couldn't was preposterous.

It became even more apparent when I say the prices of some of the items a baby needed. We were on the couch with a laptop in Lissa's room. We were doing our shopping online because if Lissa walked into a baby store here at court and bought babystuff people would have a field day. We looked at cribs and matching furniture. We looked at strollers and car seats. We looked at everything and my god did a baby need much stuff. Lissa was as organized as ever and had a checklist.

"Liss, isn't it a little early to be buying baby stuff? If you want to keep it a secret?"

"I know, but I have been looking forward to this ever since we were trying. I wanted you to help me but you were always on duty or on a slayer mission."

"I know, Liss, but I am here now and not going anywhere."

We didn't buy anything but we did end up with a very long list of things Lissa wanted. And organized Lissa made a list of furniture styles she wanted and had a top five baby rooms. I didn't know why she bothered. I am sure they would order something custom made just for them. Although I was pleased to know the amount of baby stuff with Dragons on them or dragon stuffed animals. We already had a theme for the babyroom.

Third POV.

Nathan Ivashkov, former prince of the Ivashkov royal line was sitting in a cell in the 'dungeon' at court. His son was sitting across from him. His son's guardian Eddie standing at attention near the wall, deliberately not looking at Nathan. None one of them was talking. Adrian was looking at his father but Nathan didn't look back. If it was because he was ashamed for his son about his own action or ashamed of his son's actions was anybody's guess.

But Adrian didn't seem to be able to move. He knew he needed to talk to his father. Understand how his father could amount to this. Understand that that part was not something he inherited from him.

"Why?"

Adrian finally broke the silence after about ten minutes of a one-way starring contest.

"for my people."

"Which people?"

"The only ones that matter."

"Royal Moroi."

Adrian sighed. He knew his father was a bigot and believed he was above pretty much everybody else but he didn't realize just how little other non-royal Moroi and Dhampirs meant to him.

"It didn't bother you that you were ruining your nephew's life even if he did survive?"

"No."

There was no hesitation and no deceit in his words. Nathan didn't consider Dimitri family simply because he was Dhampir.

"It didn't bother you, you were enslaving human beings like dogs?"

"No."

The only response to his answer the slight stiffening of Eddie at the back.

Anything to achieve his goals. Plus Adrian wondered if there really was a difference in his father's mind between dogs and Dhampirs. Hell no animal or creature should be treated the way his father treated Rose and Dimitri and the guardians he forced to help him.

"It didn't bother you that you had to enlist help from rogue alchemists and human extremists to accomplish this?"

"a little."

Adrian threw his hands in the air out of frustration and got up from his chair.

"Well I am glad you draw the line somewhere."

Adrian had hoped he would have found some part of his father he could love. Some part of him that had compassion, that didn't make Adrian hate him. But he was coming up blank.

"I did what I did to protect my people."

Adrian thought it was funny his father didn't even seem to include him anymore when discussing Royal Moroi.

"The thing was that Dimitri and Rose were already giving everything to protect royal Moroi. You couldn't ask for a better role model of guardians. They probably killed more Strigoi than any other guardians. Why on earth would you risk them?"

"Hump, they don't give everything. They married each other, the thought alone is enough to make me vomit let alone witnessing it. Dhampir's only goal in live is to serve us. But I needed them because all other test subjects didn't withstand the procedure."

Adrian was about to give up. He couldn't find anything of his kin in this man. He was saying goodbye to his father. He couldn't even acknowledge the man sitting in front of him as a human being let alone his father. He never had a close relationship with his father but he thought something must have changed over the years to make his father like this. He just couldn't think of anything. His father had it all. Money, power, authority. Why did he need more? When did the judgmental father turn into Mengele?

The door opened with a load bang and Adrian couldn't do anything except gawk at the man who emerged from the stairs. It seemed the world was shifting around the man. Like the air above an asphalt road on a hot day. The man was on fire without actual flames. It was hard to focus on him. His aura was all over the place. One thing Adrian could see though: he was angry.

Eddie moved to take action but Adrian stopped him with a wave of his hands. If Eddie interfered now it would mean the man would retaliate against Eddie instead of his intended target. And even though Eddie was able to take care of himself this was an opponent he wasn't used to dealing with.

The man walked up to the cell. His hands trembling at his side.

"MY SON. You dare do that to MY SON."

Randall Ivashkov was furious and for once in his life he was sober. It was evident that this rage wasn't alcohol induced but fueled by the betrayal of his younger brother.

"Uncle Rand? What are you…"

"Adrian, boy, if you want to say goodbye to your father please do so now, because there won't be much left of him when I am done."

Adrian believed the man too. His tone was dark, almost inhuman. Adrian could see his aura and it was pitch black. Surprisingly the color of hate wasn't blank. There was only one thing that caused an aura to be black.

Adrian's eyes widened. His aura was almost suffocatingly dark but he did make out one more color: gold.

Adrian touched his uncle's shoulder and send a small wave of spirit into his uncle trying to get him from murderous to just angry. Although it isn't an easy task when ones brother tried to kill your son.

"Boy, what did you just do?"

He sounded more like a person and less like an animal so Adrian knew it worked.

"First of all, don't call me boy, I am twenty seven and second, you have no idea what I did?"

"No, otherwise I wouldn't be asking."

"huh. We need to have a conversation."

"After I kill my brother."

He turned back around to Nathan.

"Now little brother where were we?" Adrian didn't know what bothered him more. The clear bloodlust in the man's voice moments before. Or still hearing him saying he would kill his brother even though he was in a more normal frame of mind.

Nathan stood up trying to defy his older brother but winched and sat back down again.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Dimitri's wife kicked him in the nuts after he used her as a lab rat."

A smile crept up on his face. A smile slightly mirrored on Adrian's face.

"Ah I like the girl already." Yes everyone either loved or hated Rose and in this case the brother's opinions couldn't be further from each other.

"You met her remember? In the Dhampir commune."

You could see him thinking hard. Before a look of shame settled upon him.

"Honestly Adrian, that day is a little fuzy. Actually the last twenty-to thirty years have been a bit fuzzy."

Adrian placed his hand on his uncle again. He realized he may not have a father anymore but that didn't mean he didn't have family. And his uncle needed him. Although the man Dimitri had always described conflicted with his memories of his uncle he understood now how the twist was formed. He was suffering from spirit darkness. Not that that excused his behavior. Lissa and himself weren't running around drunk beating up their spouse. But it was nice to know that even if the seed was there it was spirit darkness which caused him to fall over the edge. Also a scary thought. He couldn't imagine him hurting Sydney or god forbid Declan even in his darkest moments but everyone dealt with the darkness different.

He knew he had to take the man away from his father. If not to protect his father it was to protect his uncle. And he needed a good conversation with his uncle. He apparently didn't know anything about spirit. He needed to understand why he had been drunk all those years and where his dark thoughts and actions came from.

"Come on uncle, there is nothing for us here anymore."

The two man left with the guardian not far behind.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

DPOV

"Well hello my beautiful wife."

I said as I walked in Lissa's room.

"Well aren't we exaggerating a little at the moment?"

She was wearing baggy sweats and one of my big t-shirts. She and Lissa were cuddled up on the couch and under a blanket with a bucket of ice-cream and a chick movie. Even though she wasn't wearing any make-up, her hair was a mess and her clothes weren't very flattering she still looked gorgeous, but maybe I was biased.

She walked up from the couch and headed over to me. She pecked me briefly on the lips.

"I love it when you were my clothes."

She giggled a very girly giggle. It was sometimes hard to remember that Rose was a twenty four year old woman who on occasion needed girl stuff. Most of the time she was a deadly warrior and looked the part. I must admit although I find that side of her very sexy, there was something equally appealing to Rose being in a more natural state. Relaxed, in my clothes and giggling.

"So what have you boys been up to today?"

She asked me.

I had been hanging out with Christian. We weren't officially back on duty yet but that didn't mean we didn't have our normal routines. And both Christian and I knew that if the girls were having a girl moment we should make ourselves scares. We first went through some of the things they found at Nathan's bunker and when that became too depressing we switched to some intel about Strigoi cells and who to deploy. Lissa had forbid Christian to go on another slayer mission and although he understood why and knew it would be better I also knew he was feeling guilty because he wanted to help. But there really wasn't any need for him to join in now. The prestige of the slayer units had caught on and people were lining up. Mostly guardians and probably also because of the better pay, but we had enough people. Getting Moroi to join still wasn't easy and Christian was still the only Royal, but every slayer team had at least one Moroi with them and honestly more than two and the team would be compromised because of lack of fighting experience.

The rest of the afternoon we had played video games. Christian loved them and I joined in after many hours of begging from Christian. I had actually come to like them. He had given me my own set for Christmas and even had a cowboy game hooked up on the machine. I told Rose sometimes I still needed to finish some paperwork. The woman was asleep in seconds anyway and then I would play it until the small hours of the night.

"Work. Hard hard work."

I told my wife.

She gave me a coy smile, she knew exactly what we had been doing.

"Sure."

"So where is sparky. I am getting hungry."

"Me too. I want potatoes and chicken and cabbage and chocolate pudding and apples."

Lissa piped up from the couch. I can sort of see the first three make a meal, but I wasn't sure where the other two came in. Although appels can be a great way to sweeten up some cabbage.

"He is just getting changed and will be coming back down stairs in a minute."

We were at dinner when Adrian walked in. He had been absent from most of our gatherings the last few days. I knew the crimes of his father were hitting him hard. But no one blamed him.

He eyed me and gave a tug at his head indicating to follow him.

He was outside and lighting up a cigarette.

"Does Sydney know about this? I thought you quit smoking years ago."

"I did, but today I need this and I thought this was better than getting wasted, although I am not ruling that out just yet."

"Look Adrian, no one blames you. You are not responsible for your father's actions."

He sighed deeply then took a large tug of his cigarette.

"I know, it is just hard. I know you hate the guy. I hate the guy, but he is still my father and he will be locked away for the rest of his life for this. I just needed to see him. But I shouldn't have. It is just hard thinking so badly about your own sire, you know?"

He caught what he said to me. He looked at me and saw my jaw clench. I did know. Adrian knew most of the things that went on when I was younger. It was always strange discussing my father with him. I knew he knew the man different. Although he did mention he never saw the man sober.

"Speaking of your sire. I ran into him today. Well actually he stormed into the dungeon and almost assaulted my dad."

My face must have registered the surprise because Adrian chuckled a bit before continuing.

"He was furious with my dad for hurting you. Although I know uncle Randall doesn't share my father's extreme ideas for Dhampirs I also know it was the fact he used YOU to do it, that had him upset. And for once he was sober."

I out right laughed at that. I don't think I have ever seen him sober. In various stages of inebriation sure, but I had never seen him sober.

"That'll be the day." I said not hiding my distain for my father.

"I haven't seen him in years and even the times I did he was never sober, that is why I didn't notice before…"

He hesitated for a moment. I didn't really understand why. He kept looking at me. He was contemplating if he should continue this conversation about my father. I wouldn't mind if we ended here, but he had more to say.

"Dimitri his aura is gold."

He was practically willing me to understand. I knew what that meant. He was a spirit user and I knew what Adrian was implying. I got angry. Furious even. I saw Adrian flinch and step back a little. I can only image what my glare looked like.

I turned around and walked away, before I would do or say something I would regret. But Adrian wasn't done with me yet.

"Dimitri come on. Don't walk away. I am not trying to justify what he did…"

I turned around very fast and he stumbled a bit back. The speed at which I did seemed unnatural even for me but right now I was too angry to even register this.

"Good." The sound of my voice was harsh and I didn't know if it was the intensity of my voice or the fact he didn't expect me to turn around so suddenly, but I thought I saw him take an extra step back.

I turned back around and started walking back towards the others. Adrian however didn't seem to get the message.

"Dimitri just listen to me."

"No, You're not going around beating up Sydney. Neither is Lissa. Don't use that as an excuse for what he did. He…" I was actually rambling. I couldn't recall the last time I was angry enough to ramble. Actually I could. It involved Rose and three weeks-worth of dishes after I returned from a trip with Christian. But Adrian stopped me midsentence.

"He can't shut it off, Dimitri."

Adrian yelled at me. I was momentarily stunned. Adrian took a deep breath and continued.

"He sees aura's all the time. Everyone's aura's. He can't turn it off. That takes a toll on someone. I am not saying it justifies what he did, there had to be a violent streak in him for it to manifest this way, what I am saying is that at least in part spirit darkness played a role. Lissa and I can moderate our exposure to spirit. If it becomes too much we either stop using magic or go on pills. He didn't know this was affecting him Dimitri and he can't shut it off. "

I was momentarily brought back to when Rose was affected by darkness, Rose is the most amazing woman I know, she is passionate and brave and loyal and has a bad temper and when mixed with spirit darkness led to her almost killing Jesse and actually killing Victor. I hadn't blamed her for that. I had even stopped punishing myself for my own atrocious actions as a Strigoi. So why was this any different? But I couldn't forgive the man that hurt my mother like that. As I closed my eyes I could still see the fear in her eyes and the bruises on her face. I could hear her strained voice pleading him to stop.

I knew I was being a hypocrite but I couldn't let go of the hate I had for the man. The hate that made me control every emotion I experienced. The hate I had carried around my entire life.

I could see all eyes were either on Adrian or on me. I stared at our friends but I couldn't face them. Part of me was ashamed for not being able to see it Adrian's way. I felt a lesser man because I couldn't, wouldn't let go of that hatred.

I walked away.

RPOV 

Everyone was in a frenzy about what happened. They had never seen Dimitri like that. He let his guard down with me but still maintained some form of decorum around our friends. He would let the happy stuff show, but he didn't show them the bad parts. The fact he did this evening was a major alarm bell. But I knew he needed a moment. He needed to form his thought around whatever it was that was bothering him. We had caught the end of the conversation with Adrian but it didn't make much sense to us. Although it was pretty clear it was about a spirit user. Lissa had been pestering Adrian about it but he wouldn't budge either.

After I had my diner, I walked towards our room. I turned on the lights and saw him sitting in the dark on the edge of our bed. His elbows on his knees staring into the darkness. When I turned the light on he turned to me.

I sat next to him. Not saying anything. I would let him tell me what was wrong.

"Did Adrian tell you?"

I shook my head.

"No, no matter how much Lissa was on his case."

He seemed a little relived at that.

"Adrian ran into Randall today."

"Your father?"

He seemed to flinch at the word.

"That man is not my father."

His voice was a low growl, but it wasn't directed at me, but at Randall. So I let it go, for now.

"He apparently was upset at his brother for using me as one of his test subjects."

"Well I can sort of see that. Besides the fact it is morally wrong, you are technically related. I would have thought that would mean something, and I suppose Randall thought the same."

Dimitri nodded.

"What does that have to do with what Adrian said about a spirit user."

The moment it left my lips and saw the look on his face I put two and two together. Randall was a spirit user. And if it was true what Adrian said it meant that was under constant threat of spirit darkness. It could make him do all sorts of bad things, like beat up Olena.

"I don't know how to handle that information, Roza. I blamed him. I hated him. I still do. I can't just let that go. But now I know it wasn't his fault."

I thought about that for a bit.

"I know better than most what spirit darkness can do to a person. I have killed because of it. I am sure that spirit darkness effected his need for drinking and made him do things he wouldn't do otherwise. But he could have left. He could have locked himself in a cage somewhere and had himself committed if he felt he was out of control. That was my first thought after Jesse. How to protect the people I love from myself. He may not be guilty of everything but he was at least negligent."

Dimitri sighed and squeezed my hand.

"I just don't know if I can ever forgive him for what he did. I know I am being a hypocrite, god knows we both had… instances with darkness that wasn't our fault."

"Honestly Dimitri. I don't think it's up to you to forgive him, at least you shouldn't be the first."

He turned to me and realization crossed his face. Together with a bit of shame. He hadn't considered how his mother would feel about this piece of information..

"You are right. God how am I going to explain this to my mother. Should I even tell her?"

I didn't know what to say. Honestly I thought Olena should hear it at least and let her figure out what she should do with it. But I also saw that this was eating him up inside. He thought he was a bad person for hating his father for something he wasn't in control of. He couldn't let go of that hatred yet. I also knew he resented his father for this. He had spent his entire life controlling his anger so not to resemble his father. I knew that was part of the reason he felt so guilty after he was turned back. He felt like that kind of violence had been inside of him all this time. And in part that was true. I learned a lot from spirit darkness. Lissa became depressed, Adrian bi-polar and I violent. The fact that Randall became a violent drunk did say something about his nature. You just couldn't fault him for not controlling that anger.

"Maybe you should talk to him?"

"To my father?"

At least he called him his father now, even though the word was filled with hatred.

"Yes, I don't think he knew what was going on either. Just hear him out."

"Maybe"

"if nothing else, maybe it would give you some closure."

He nodded but his heart just wasn't in it.

"Dimitri?"

"huh?"

"Just think about it this way. The reason your father has been sober for the first time in decades is because of you."

There was a bitter smile on his face. But if anything this did show his love for Dimitri.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

So here we are. Sitting in Adrian's guest quarters. Adrian would sort of mediate with Randall. I was sitting next to Dimitri and he was fidgeting. I don't think I have ever seen him this nervous. Hell, I don't think I have ever seen him nervous at all.

Sydney was making tea and Declan was running around. Eddie made a nod in my direction but he had excused himself to run errands. Adrian and Sydney didn't come to court very often and when they did Eddie would make the most of his free time. Or spend it with Jill or relaxing. Right now, though I suspected he wanted to give us some privacy.

"hey Auntie Rosie, look what I got."

Declan showed me the toy car and was making car noises while 'driving' it through the air.

"Ooh. Is that a new one?"

He nodded.

"Well aren't you being spoiled."

He nodded eagerly. He had a big grin on his face. He was such a cute boy. With his big brown curls. I was wondering though how they were able to convince people that he was their son. Because he looked nothing like his parents.

"Declan, honey, come on. We are going to make some cupcakes while Daddy talks with uncle Dimitri, aunt Rose and their guest."

He was walking towards his mother when half way he turned around and walked back to Dimitri. He handed him his car with outstretched arms.

"Here uncle Dimitri. Cars always cheer me up."

I was about to cry, he was so cute. I could see Dimitri look up. He hadn't realized he was 'showing' his inner struggle.

He was actually relaxing a bit, when the bell rang. And the tension was back. Adrian opened the door and Randall walked in. I had only seen the man once and he was very drunk back then. He also seemed completely oblivious to the fact his son loathed him and simply kept up his drunk chatting. The man standing before me now, was a different man.

He seemed to have aged dramatically and the look in his eyes was one of shame instead of jolly as it was when we first met in the commune a few years ago.

Adrian directed him to the couch opposite us and I saw Dimitri's knuckles turn white with strain. His first instincts were still to simply deck his father.

When we were seated nobody knew what to say. I think a few minutes passed before he Randall finally pierced the silence.

"Adrian explained a bit about all this spirit stuff. I know what I did can never be forgiven but I want you to know how sorry I am. I loved your mother and I feel very ashamed of what I have put her through all those years because of my own weakness. Adrian explained about medication I could try. I have an appointment with the doctor in the morning."

Dimitri couldn't look at him. I knew he was processing his words, but he wasn't able to speak, so I spoke for him.

"Why didn't you leave?"

It has been bothering me since we found out he was a spirit user.

"When you felt like you were losing control, why didn't you leave?"

I repeated when he didn't respond.

"I don't think you can really judge me. You don't know what it was like. I needed to be around the people I loved or I thought I would go insane."

I was getting irritated and so was Dimitri. I knew what he was talking about. But I would have left if Dimitri hadn't been there. Dimitri could handle me both physically and mentally but otherwise I would have locked myself up.

"Actually I _do_ know what it was like. I was under the influence of spirit darkness for years. I killed someone while under the influence. I know exactly what it does to you. And when I figured out what was happening to me, when I noticed I was losing control, I took measures to ensure I wouldn't hurt the people I loved."

I was getting upset. I stood up and was about to begin a tirade towards the man when his eyes almost bulged out of his head. His expression went from shock and irritation to outright anger.

"Who are you to lecture me about this. You betrayed my son!"

I did what now?

It was such a sudden outburst I was momentarily shocked into silence. That didn't happen very often.

"Don't deny it. I can clearly tell by your aura. And I thought you two had some sort of grand love story."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

The man was delusional. Years of spirit exposure must have really messed him up.

"You're pregnant and I know it can't be Dimitri's."

All my anger dissipated and made way for shock. Pregnant?

I looked back at Dimitri and I saw the same reflected in his eyes. All his anger towards his father momentarily forgotten and he was just staring at me. My aura, my aura showed I was pregnant.

"Adrian? Is that true?" I asked desperate to know the answer.

Adrian was speechless but shook out of his stupor and honed in on my stomach. I could see he had a hard time reading it as he was squinting his eyes. A moment later he recoiled back a smile on his face.

"Yup definitely knocked up."

This couldn't be happening.

A smile crept its way up to my face and I turned around to Dimitri, I was trying hard to resist the burning of tears behind my eyes.

He closed the few feet between us and kissed me hard. When he pulled back with the biggest goofy smile on his face. I assume I had a similar smile but it immediately turned to fear. Fear for my children.

"What are we going to do? I mean we sort of discussed it wouldn't happen and now? When? I mean, we were so careful."

Dimitri took a moment to think a about it.

"You were off birth control a week in the bunker before Nathan tattooed us. And we did have a bit of a wild night before he did."

He looked almost sheepish admitting that. We had made love all night, thinking we never had a chance again, and now it resulted in me being pregnant.

Something occurred to me then.

"The baby saved me. The baby must be immune too, just like Declan. The baby saved me when he or she was only a few cells big."

He nodded.

"The doctor did say it was weird you were suddenly seeing the tattoo as 'self'. And the immune reaction stopped."

Something else occurred to me then.

"Oh God, what if the baby was hurt because of what Nathan did?"

I saw fear across Dimitri's face as well. I turned to Adrian with my question ignoring the very confused Randall.

I saw Adrian look at my stomach again. Squinting even harder now.

"I don't know little Dhampir, It does look different from Lissa's pregnancy, but maybe because she is further along? And I don't actually know what your child would look like. I never saw Declan until the last few days of the pregnancy. I do know the colors are similar to your own though, but there is something new mixed in there."

"What the hell is going on here. Why aren't you angry?"

This question was directed at Dimitri.

Dimitri glared at his father. But I was wondering what to tell him. Would our story hold with him that Adrian was the baby's father through a fertility clinic? Will anybody actually believe us now? I mean we were kind of off the radar when we conceived.

I looked at him panicked and Dimitri sighed deeply.

"Randall, stop insulting my wife. The child in mine."

Shock came across his face and so did a bit of confusion.

"Children actually."

"What?"

"She is carrying twins, so children. Actually one of each. A boy and a girl."

I panicked again and turned to Adrian to conformation. He just shrugged.

"Sorry, little Dhampir I can't see the difference."

I sat down overwhelmed. I mean don't get me wrong, I wanted this but it was a lot to take in.

"Look son, I don't know what she told you but Dhampirs can't procreate together."

Anger crossed Dimitri's face. The look was actually quite funny combined with an eye roll. Everybody knew that.

"Don't call me son, and neither Rose or I are actually normal Dhampirs. We have known for a while it was possible for us to conceive. Your mysterious element making it possible."

Randall was just beginning to see what spirit can do. I saw he was looking at Adrian to confirm it.

"He is right uncle Randall. Dimitri is a restored Strigoi. When Lissa brought him back she infused him with spirit. It is why he could survive my father's experiment and how he was able to knock her up."

Randall finally seemed to grasp that he had insulted his son's wife with adultery while he was apologizing for years of torment of his mother. A look of horror and shame was once more plastered on his face.

"Our little Dhampir here is also something special. She was shadow-kissed, meaning died and brought back by a spirit user, then died again and broke the bound."

The way Adrian said it made my miraculous struggles for survival look like a walk in the park, but I suppose he was right in essence.

"Yes you mentioned something like that in the list spirit users can do. You yourself have a shadow-kissed bondmate, isn't that right."

"I do. But she is enjoying college somewhere."

"It is amazing what spirit can do. I am sorry Dimitri. I didn't mean to…"

Dimitri had turned from wonder about his children to outright anger again.

"No, you jumped to conclusions; you let your temper get the better of you. It doesn't matter if you are a raging drunk or not, you still have no control over your emotions and you ruined what should have been a wonderful moment with my wife."

He grabbed my hand and walked towards the door.

"Adrian, make sure he keeps his mouth shut. We will see you later."

With that he practically dragged me out the door and home. It wasn't until we reached our own room he let his rage subside. He sat on the bed and motioned me towards him. He hugged me tight and his rage was replaced by an almost goofy grin.

"I know this wasn't the way we wanted to find out but that doesn't mean I am not happy."

I smiled back. Reality was sinking in. I had no idea how to handle all of this but I knew we could do this.

"I'll be right back."

I told him. He looked at me funny but knew by now that he needed to trust me. I walked out of his arms and over to Lissa's bathroom hoping she still had one or two test lying around. She did, one left.

I grabbed it and walked back towards our own bedroom down the hall.

Dimitri kept looking at me funny when I entered the bathroom without saying something.

I unpacked the test and read the instructions. I had seen enough movies to know you had to pie on the stick but I was wondering about the timing and what would show up on the screen. After I did my business I capped the test again and walked back into our bedroom and sat down on the bed next to Dimitri.

"Dimitri, I have been feeling weird lately, so just to be sure I took one of Lissa's pregnancy tests."

Dimitri looked confused for a moment, until he realized what I was doing. I was acting out how it should have been.

"Dimitri, the test is positive" and I showed him the test. I hadn't even looked at it myself, when two spirit users tell you: you are pregnant, you are pregnant.

The test confirmed it and the smile was back on Dimitri's face. He picked me up and spun me around.

"We are going to be a family."

"Yup, little Rose and Dimitri running around."

I looked happy first and then thought better of it. A look of horror came across my face.

"Oh God a little Rose, We are doomed."

He laughed and so did I. Although I could tell both of us were a little more apprehensive after that.

 **So yeah, some people had already guessed what was going to happen. Not really that big of a surprise. And if you have read Wrong Fairy Tale you would have known they were twins and their names. I know I am hardly the first. I think it is an appealing idea for a lot of people to have two babies at once. My husband is actually part of a boy-girl twin, although he and his sister aren't very close. As a matter of fact we aren't really on speaking terms at the moment. So maybe it is my way of writing how a relationship between twins should look like, and for a thousand other reasons. I also noticed that published authors aren't shying away from the twin thing either. There is something romantic about siblings sharing everything including a womb. (not in a Cersei and Jaime way ;). In the sequel to both crimson power and wrong fairy tale you will see why I wanted twins. And although my own pregnancy wasn't very hard, I think I would have preferred two in one go and simply be done with it ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Dear Tina (Guest), I am glad you like the story. And no problem it is a valid question. Originally crimson power was to be the only origin story for the twins. I had the concept of the experiments but not the specifics. I was writing this story when Wrong fairy tale came to mind. Seeing as I wasn't going to write to stories featuring their children and both times there was a Strigoi component in the children I opted to keep the names and some things similar so a sequel could satisfy both Crismon power readers and Wrong fairy tale readers. Also maybe I am a bit lazy to come up with two stories. So even though I wrote Wrong fairy tale first, it is actually the second origin story. This was always meant to be the way they came to be.**

Chapter 10:

RPOV

The next morning I was sitting at breakfast. I knew Lissa was patiently waiting for me to tell me how things went with Randall. She and Adrian had already planned a spirit meeting with them and Sonia but she wanted to know who the man was. I couldn't blame her, he was known to be violent. I would be hesitant as well. Especially now that Lissa is pregnant. I wondered if I should tell her about my own pregnancy.

But before I could make up my mind one way or the other, she walked in.

"Hey, Rose, How did it go last night. I didn't see you afterwards so I am guessing it didn't went well and you guys needed a bit of alone time?"

I just nodded.

"It was hard. He was apologetic but I don't think Dimitri is at that point yet."

"I understand, it must be hard for him. It is hard when a parent turns out to be something other then what you have viewed them as all those years."

I knew she was sympathetic towards Dimitri, although she experienced the opposite with her father. When she found out he had cheated on her mother. She still knew what it was like to feel like you didn't know your father. It doesn't only change your view of them, but of yourself as well.

"I mean, I can't imagine what it was like to meet with him. Was he sober? Was he nice? I asked Adrian but he didn't know, he had never seen his uncle sober. Isn't that weird. I mean…"

"I am pregnant."

I interjected. Lissa was going on and on and I hadn't meant to say it like that. I was still debating whether or not to tell her at all this soon, but it was too late now. It just flopped out.

"You are what?"

"Last night, Randall saw it first. When I got up from the couch, he saw I was pregnant, actually kind of attacked me for supposedly cheating on Dimitri."

"Rose, how? Oh God, did Nathan do anything… to you. I mean not he personally… but experiment wise?"

"Oh God no. Don't worry Liss, I am pretty sure they are Dimitri's"

"What? How? And did you say 'they'."

"Yeah, twins, according to Randall. And I am not sure what happened. I mean, we survived something amazing because we were special. Dimitri is special. I think I survived because I was already pregnant with the twins once they tattooed me. There is so much we don't know about what happens to people after they are turned back. I think you healed all of him when you brought him back."

Lissa sat down contemplating all of this.

"If this is true and you are pregnant because of Dimitri being turned back, how come you are just pregnant now. You guys have been together for years and the walls aren't soundproof you know. I know you guys have sex."

There was actually a visible shudder coming from Lissa. I just looked embarrassed. I knew Lissa knew about our sex life, she actually walked in on us a few times.

"Well I was on birth control to regulate my period and my mood, you know I can PSM like there is no tomorrow, but you know it also actually functioned as a birth control. When Nathan took us prisoner, I stopped taking them because… well I didn't have any with me anyway. The night before we were tattooed we kinda… you know, it being the last night we could be alive we kinda went… all out."

I blushed again and Lissa actually joined me in the blush.

She was still processing this. I am glad she was buying the story. We had discussed it together last night. I didn't want to lie to Lissa but I also didn't want to expose Declan against his parents' wishes, so it meant we would play dumb but tell her the truth.

"Oh my God Rose, Do you know what this means? Maybe we could use the vaccine to cure Dhampir infertility too. Image what it would mean if dhampirs can have children together. If we could figure out what is special about the twins and how it is affecting you, also see if the twins have the same kind of spirit hum in them as we saw in Olive."

Adrian was right. Even if I knew Lissa meant well, she was willing to do a lot more then I was comfortable with. Besides even if we could find a cure it would mean our whole guardian system would fall. The reason it developed in the first place was to protect the Moroi because we needed them to survive. If that was no longer necessary it would mean more and more Dhampirs would think of a job outside of guarding. And although it would definitely improve the lives of dhampirs, if the Moroi didn't change it would mean their extinction. I was actually relieved that Lissa seemed to be rooting for the Dhampirs instead of doing anything to preserve the Moroi. I wouldn't put it past Nathan to try and hurt the twins just so he could keep that information a secret. It was for both reasons I wanted to keep this quiet.

"No."

"Rose?"

"The answer is no. Whatever you are thinking, my children will NOT become labrats. I can't believe you would even think that. Especially after what just happened to me and Dimitri. Imagine I was asking you about willing to probe your baby."

"Rose I didn't mean it like that. Especially after what Nathan did. I just think this is a miracle and we could learn something from this."

"Lissa I can't be more clear. You can take some blood samples from me. Dimitri's is already on file and I won't mind if Sonia looked at their aura's when they are safe and at home, but otherwise the answer is NO."

I didn't know if I was getting through to her. Sometimes I really missed the bond. But her face turned from serious to outright happiness.

A hear piercing scream dragged me out of my own thoughts. Lissa flung herself at me.

"oh my God, we are pregnant together and you're having twins. When they get older they can guard my child just like you do with me. Oh my God I am so happy, we can go shopping together now, maybe catch a breathing class together. It is going to be so much fun. I was feeling a little guilty. I wanted to share so much with you about my pregnancy but I knew it was a bit of a sore subject for you."

I guess she was right. I am just glad she was also bonding with the twins and not just viewing them as an opportunity. It had been a long while since Lissa and I could do something together. I mean I accompanied Lissa to many things but there was always a divide between us. Here there was no difference. Queen or guardian it didn't matter, we were both pregnant women. I couldn't help but smile at this although I was a bit apprehensive about all the things Lissa had in mind. Not only was I just accepting the fact I was pregnant. I was also a little worried about going shopping with Lissa and going to a birthing course. Lissa normally was over the top in those things I can only imagine what it was would be like now that she was pregnant.

"Rose what are you going to do about your job?"

I was wondering that too. We had dismissed the possibility of kids because our jobs were so demanding. I still didn't know if Dimitri or I could just sit back and become court guardians again. Not only were we one of the best out there when it came to hunting Strigoi, we were also warriors through and through. We didn't do well with inactivity. But at least for the remainder of the pregnancy we would be staying here.

"I don't know. I will still have to work until I am a few months further along and I have no idea what we are going to do when they are born. I don't know if we can just sit around and do nothing."

"Ah Rose, you won't be doing nothing. You'll be my guardian, right?"

"yeah, but I it does mean we can't go on slayer missions anymore."

She nodded. She understood. She probably had a similar conversation with Christian when she became pregnant. She wanted her child to have a father and although that is never a guarantee in this world, for Moroi and Dhampir alike, you could minimize the risk.

"Don't worry Rose, I am sure it will be alright. But for now, how about a little vacation time. You guys have a buckload of personal time and I think you need it."

I nodded. That was a good idea. We hadn't been back on duty yet even if we had been cleared medically. Maybe we did need a bit of time to ourselves. And I knew just the place to do it.

That night I was snuggled into Dimitri's arms in our own bed. Now that we were both alive and well there was something I was curious about. I didn't feel any different after the tattoo. I wondered if Dimitri did. I wondered if the tattoo actually worked. Although the idea is sort of monstrous and I knew Dimitri in particular had a problem with becoming more like a Strigoi again, I couldn't help but think it would give us an advantage in the field.

"Do you feel any different?" I asked out of the blue. It took Dimitri a moment to understand exactly what I was asking.

"I don't know really, maybe. You?"

It wasn't often that Dimitri stumbled on his words. I knew in that moment he had felt something, but was uncomfortable talking about it. For now I let him.

"I don't know, not really, and I don't actually know what is caused by the pregnancy or the tattoo. I have never been pregnant before."

I smiled at him wanting to relieve the tension. He smiled back.

"Lissa said it might be a good idea to take a little break. Go on vacation."

"That has been a while."

"I know. Maybe we can go to Baia, I kind of want to tell them about the twins in person."

There was that goofy smile again.

"you know mama is going to be excited. She will go insane."

"I think it is so cute you still call her mama. And maybe you can tell her that other thing face to face too."

And the goofy smile was gone.

"yeah, maybe."

I snuggled closer to my husband. He was always nice and warm. But today he was warmer than usual. He didn't have a fever, I just think he worked himself up to much. It was a lot to take in. I just hoped getting back to his family would calm him down.

Lissa had arranged a car to take us to the airport. We had phoned Olena last night we would be coming. She had asked why so suddenly. She didn't know about the experiments and we didn't tell her we were pregnant. But she was certainly suspicious. She kept asking if something was wrong or if something happened. Eventually we guilted her into dropping the issue.

"Why can't we just come and visit our family on a whim. We have enough days and Lissa insisted. We have been in the field for a while and now we want a break."

She had apologized. She is going to be angry once she finds out we did have an ulterior motive, but I think she will forgive us after she finds out what the news is. And then maybe be angry again when we tell her the second news about Randall.

When we arrived in the garage at the car Adrian was leaning against the car. He had Declan with him.

The little fellow ran up to us.

"Why are you leaving Auntie Rosie, we just got here."

"Well sweety, we are visiting Dimitri's family in Russia. But we will be back in two weeks."

His slight frown was replaced by a sweet smile when we mentioned Dimitri's family. Adrian and Sydney visited them once to meet his cousins and they took Declan with them. He loved playing with Zoya and Katya and Olena absolutely adored him. He was pretty cute.

"But you'll be back soon right?"

We were only gone for two weeks but I didn't know if Adrian would be staying that long. I looked over to him but he simply shrugged. With the Randall situation not sorted yet I suppose Adrian didn't want to leave court yet.

"We'll see you soon Deccie."

He scrounged his nose up at the nickname. At least he was too young to understand a noncommittal answer.

Adrian took Dimitri aside for a moment while I sat goodbye to Declan. By the third kissy face Declan was running away from me.

"no please auntie Rosie, I'll get koodies."

I laughed as I got into the car.

DPOV

"Dimitri can I talk to you for a minute?"

I saw Roza was deep in conversation with Declan. So I turned around towards Adrian. His face was unreadable, not good.

"I went with uncle Rand to the hospital. They diagnosed him with Borderline personality disorder. He is taking medication for it now. Spirit seems to always have a root in an actual mental disorder. I suppose this is his."

I knew over the years we had all suspected this. We never figured out if Spirit caused the mental disorder or if an underlying mental disorder drove a person towards Spirit. But I suppose my father was gifted with a violent personality disorder whereas Lissa for instance was more prone to classic depression.

"Thanks for telling me this, Adrian."

"Actually he told me to tell you something."

I immediately tensed again. So far anything that had come out of his mouth even sober had been offensive.

"He was sorry about what happened but he needs you to know he did take a good look at you both."

Adrian took a deep breath and I knew that I wasn't going to like what he was going to say.

"He said your aura is different. There is something in there that he had never seen. I thought maybe it was because you were turned back, he wasn't exactly in a position to read your aura last time, but… Dimitri, he said it was in Rose and the twins too. Whatever my father did, it changed something."

"Do you see anything out of the ordinary?"

He looked pensive.

"I don't know, maybe, I can't really pinpoint it. We'll have to…"

"No autie Rosie, I'll get koodies."

Declan ran past us and hide behind his father legs. I heard Rose laugh behind me. She winked at us as she got into the car. I gave Adrian a look of gratitude that was laced with concern but I got into the car with my wife. For now I was glad to go back home.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

DPOV

The plane ride has always been long, but it does seem to get shorter every time we take it. Although having movies there to occupy my wife did help with the length of the trip as well. When there wasn't a decent movie on Rose could be a bit of a handful. I did notice that she was fussing around with her dinner on the plane. Not that plane food was stellar cuisine but usually it didn't matter to Rose as long as she was fed.

"Don't like the food?"

She shook her head.

"I am trying but the plane right is already making me a bit queasy and normally I would take a cola but I can't have it anymore because there is caffeine in there. I tried mineral water but it isn't helping as much."

"Do you think it is more the twins then the plane right?"

"God I hope not. I know I am at the stage where I can get morning sickness but I was hoping to avoid it all together."

I laughed a little. I hoped so too. I decided not to share the pregnancy history of my mother and sisters. I heard from my mother her pregnancy with me was particularly bad. I wondered if it was the genetic make-up of the mother or of the child that determined the severity of the pregnancy symptoms. If it was the latter Rose was screwed.

We made it off the plane with Rose's dinner still inside of her, but she had turned a little green. I had asked the flight attendant for some crackers and they seemed to be helping. At the airport I got our bags and was hauling them towards the rental car.

"I can carry my own bag Dimitri. For god sakes it has wheels."

I sighed. This was going to be a long eight more months.

The drive towards Baia was long and not without peril. It was still morning and we should be able to make it before dark but I was still worried. I started to second guess this choice. I loved seeing my family and normally Rose and I could handle a stray Strigoi you would find here, but now I was getting anxious because I didn't want Rose fighting.

"Don't worry Comrade. We will be there before dark and otherwise I know you can protect us, and I can protect myself if push comes to shove. We will be fine."

Rose always knew what I was thinking. I knew she was right. She would be able to defend herself but that didn't mean I wanted her fighting now that she was pregnant. We were already lucky to have this miracle, I wasn't going to risk it. I knew Rose agreed. She would normally be right there with me in battle, but now she would be on the sidelines only stepping when absolutely necessary.

We got into the car and prepared ourselves for the long drive.

We were making good time and I was starting to relax a little until we got stuck in traffic in one of the larger cities we needed to cross. I had never seen a traffic jam here but I suppose economy was picking up. On the one hand that was a good thing on the other hand we lost two hours in the city. It meant we would arrive a little after dark. As long as we stayed in the car and the car was moving I suppose we were safe.

Of course that would have been the case if my beautiful pregnant wife had a bigger bladder.

"Dimitri there was a sign for a restaurant in a few miles, I really have to go."

"Again?"

"Oh I am sorry, It is your twins that are pressing on my bladder."

"It is only an hour and a half left to Baia, can't you hold it? It is already getting dark."

"Either you can stop at the next restaurant or loose the deposit on the car."

I sighed deeply. I guess we were stopping.

After a few minutes the restaurant came into view. It wasn't a very nice place but the only one in a radius of fifty miles. So we had no choice. I scanned the area. There seemed to be a few customers and the light was shining bright onto the street.

"I walked with Rose inside and as she went to the bathroom I bought us a bottle of water and some food for the last bit."

After a few minutes Rose came back out and we walked to the car. We were almost there when my worst nightmare came true.

"Dhampirs, we really did get lucky tonight."

Why on earth they always need to announce themselves I didn't know. Either they were too young to realize that was not handy if you wanted the upper hand in battle or they were too old to care.

I tossed the keys to Rose.

"Get in the car now."

She did as she was told. For once in her life. Two of them wasn't anything we hadn't handled before, so she trusted me to take care of myself. It was her job to take care of herself and the twins. If things went south she could drive off into safety. I knew she didn't want to, but I also knew she would if it became necessary.

I engaged the first one and was a little disappointed to notice he was indeed old enough not to care if he alerted the enemy. The other one joined in and I should have been having trouble with the both of them. Both of them were ancient. But I wasn't having trouble. I could keep up with their speed, their punches hardly fazed me and when I came face to face with the one who attacked first I saw shock on his face and he physically recoiled back. I had no idea why he did but it gave me the opening I needed. Normally I would have taken my stake from my pocket. Normally I would have been focused and precise. But this time I wasn't. I was brutal. I snapped his neck and he fell to the ground. I knew it wasn't permanent but I didn't care. I wasn't seeing them as enemies anymore. I wasn't registering that they were powerful creatures that we needed years of training to defeat. No I saw them as prey. And I think in that moment they felt like it too. The other one tried to get away but I wouldn't let him. I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him back to me. Instinct took over. I was getting tired, drained. I felt more than just the adrenaline from battle. I was hungry. A hunger I recognized as my time as Strigoi. But my prey was something else as it had been before.

I pulled the Strigoi flash against me and I sunk my teeth in his neck. I didn't know how I knew it would satiate the hunger but I did. How I had developed fangs in the last few minutes I didn't know but I had. As the blood was running down my throat I could feel the intense hunger dissipate. I could feel strength returning to me. When the last drop of his blood was in my system he fell to the ground. I knew I didn't even have to stake him. Life had left him a few moments ago.

When I turned around to focus on the other one I saw Rose standing there with a stake in her hand. She had taken care of the other one. But that wasn't what struck me. Rose still had her stake raised. Raised towards me. The look in her eyes broke my heart. She was afraid, she was hurt and most of all she looked broken.

"Roza?"

"Comrade?"

Her voice was shaky and I saw a tear escape the confines of her eyes.

I slowly walked up to her. She seemed hesitant at first but she didn't move back. Only inches away from her I lowered her arm that held the stake.

"Roza. It's okay. I took care of them."

I realized that wasn't exactly what happened. I hadn't neutralized them. I had devoured them.

Her hand moved towards my face and I didn't quite understand why she was so afraid. She ran her hands down my cheek and to my mouth. I followed her hand and I felt them. Fangs. I shouldn't have fangs.

"Dimitri. You're eyes."

I didn't know what my eyes looked like but I can imagine. Increased strength, speed, fangs and a bloodlust. My eyes were red no doubt. I remember the feeling of being Strigoi. I remember my body being hardwired for the hunt. I remember all of it. But there were two things completely different from last time. One being my choice of prey. And the second: my soul. I could feel the warmth of her hand spreading through me. I could feel the ache in my heart at seeing her broken over me. I could feel the love I had for my family.

I closed my eyes and relished in the feeling of her hands against my face. She stepped closer and wrapped me in a hug. She patted my hair and I bend down and buried my face into hers.

"It's okay, everything is going to be okay."

When I pulled back and opened my eyes again I could hear a small sob of relief escape her.

"You're back."

I just nodded. I didn't know what had happened exactly, but I knew what had caused it. I sat down on the ground a bit defeated.

"This is what it does, isn't it. The tattoo. It worked."

She sat down on her knees in front of me.

"You came back to me. That is all that matters. It means you didn't turn. Whatever the tattoo does, it is reversible."

I buried my face in my hands.

"God I drank from him. I drained him."

"Dimitri, did you feel that hunger before. Do you feel it now?"

I looked deep inside myself. I needed to be sure. If there was even a trace of that hunger I shouldn't be around anybody. Certainly not Rose and the twins. But it was gone. It was like it was never there in the first place.

"No. It's gone. I didn't start feeling it until I was in battle. I didn't even know what I was doing until I was doing it. Instinct told me what to do to replenish the strength I lost."

My voice sounded lost. I didn't know how to deal with this. I didn't want to turn into that monster again. God I hated Nathan at the moment.

"Come on we need to get moving."

Rose was getting up and I did the same. I dragged the bodies behind the restaurant where the morning light would leave nothing more of them but dust.

I got back into the car and took a deep breath until I felt more in control.

"We'll figure out what is going on, but for now I think we should keep this between ourselves. I want this to be a happy visit. I want them to be excited about the twins. I don't want mama worrying about me, about us."

She nodded.

"You think it'll happen to me, to the twins?"

Honestly I didn't know. Randall words were coming back to me. Whatever he saw in my aura was in Rose's and the twins too.

"I don't know."

After we have pulled up on the road again, Rose took my hands and squeezed it.

"Even if you do have their strength, speed and even bloodlust, you won't become that monster again. You were still you. I saw it in your eyes even if they were red. Otherwise I would have run the other way."

Her words calmed me down, if only a little bit.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

DPOV

The road back to the house seemed so much longer. But eventually I recognized the streets leading up to the house.

I had been so focused on the road I hadn't noticed Rose had gotten quieter.

"Roza?'

"Yeah just fine. Just trying to keep my food down after all the bumps in the road."

I guess that answers that question.

I got out of the car and got the luggage. I saw Rose getting out of the car albeit it a little slower than usual. She did look a little pale. The fact she wasn't protesting the fact I was carrying all the luggage was a dead give-away for just awful she felt. I hoped she would feel better now that we weren't in transit anymore.

I rang the doorbell and my mother opened the door. She practically threw herself at me and at Rose. I swear she was hugging Rose longer than me.

"You guys are late. Dinner has been ready for half an hour."

I smiled. Leave it to my mother to worry about dinner.

We stepped inside the house and I was met with the most delicious smell. Ah my mother's cooking. I had missed it. However I seemed to be alone in my high opinion of my mother's cooking because Rose was covering her mouth and sprinting towards the bathroom.

I saw my mother looking shocked in her direction. The spectacle had also brought out my two sisters and all three women were staring at me. Shock on their faces. They recognized what was going on immediately. Really we can't have one normal conversation about the babies. Sonya's eyes were starting to turn in anger towards Rose, no doubt following a similar train of thought as Randall. I just rolled my eyes and grabbed the water bottle as I followed her towards the downstairs bathroom.

I saw Rose hunged over the toilet bowl gripping it as if her life depended on it.

"Don't worry, false alarm. I am still the proud owner of my food. At least for now."

I smiled. She was taking this rather well. I handed her the bottle of water. When she looked up she looked even paler then she had a few moments ago.

"Thanks. It just hit me. I love your mother's cooking. It is just the smell."

"I know. It is just you alerted all the women in the house about what is going on."

She looked shocked.

"Oh God."

She groaned.

I extended my hands towards her. She took it and I helped her up. She took another gulp from the water and prepared herself for yet another onslaught of accusations.

When we walked out into the living room, she was clinging to me. As if I could protect her from the women in my family.

Sonya's look had not changed and I knew my mother and Karolina were trying to hold back and give her the benefit of the doubt. But they were racking their brain around how this could have happened.

I sat down and Rose sat next to me, still clinging. I waited a bit to see if Rose would take the lead but she stayed silent. There was a first time for everything.

"So, I guess you guys already figured it out, but we are pregnant."

"Really Dimitri. 'We are pregnant'. Don't you mean she is pregnant."

Sometimes I do not like my sister.

"Now, Sonya, don't be rude. I am sure they will explain. Rose sweety, did something happen you didn't want?"

My mother was asking a little hesitant. At least she didn't think Rose would cheat.

"Well I don't know what is worse. People accusing me of adultery or people thinking I am too weak to fight off some sleasebag Moroi."

I sighed. This wasn't really turning out the way I thought it would.

"No Sonya, Rose didn't cheat on me, and no mother, Rose was not assaulted. I am the father."

Well that shocked all three women. Of course my grandmother even in her early nineties was just sitting in her chair with a knowing look on her face.

"Dimitri, that is impossible."

I crossed my arms over my chest.

"More or less impossible then coming back from the dead or turning back from being Strigoi?"

All three women looked at us a bit guilty.

I took a deep breath.

"We knew I was different. I am immune to turning, God knows what else is different."

"Well in the end it doesn't matter. A new baby is always a blessing. And if it's through conventional means or a miracle, a baby is always welcome here."

My mother was sweet, although she did keep it ambiguous if she actually believed us. But it was nice to still be able to tell them something about the pregnancy.

"Actually, babies, we're expecting twins."

Now that got the reaction we had hoped. My mother actually squealed and she was hugging Rose and me. I saw Rose was returning it and seemed to have forgotten everything.

"I'll make you something easier on your stomach."

"Oh don't bother Olena. It was just the plane ride and the car right here. Lots of bumps. I am sure I am fine with dinner."

Dinner started out awkward.

Rose seemed to be able to eat most things and was enjoying her food. But there was silence. All around until my sister couldn't take it anymore.

"Oh come on Dimka, don't be mad, I mean when she told you, you must have been a little suspicious."

I raised my eyebrows.

"So, Rose how far along are you?"

My mother was trying very hard to distract us from Sonya.

"Only five weeks, so it is still all new and quite fragile. We will wait to tell other people when we are past the twelve weeks."

"So how did you find out? If it is supposed to be a miracle how did you think to test for pregnancy so early? Huh?"

God I was seriously going to strangle my sister. I saw Rose getting angrier and angrier by the minute.

"Actually Sonya, a spirit user we know informed me I was pregnant, while Dimitri was there, and so that you know, your brother _never_ doubted me, not for a second. Afterwards we did a pregnancy test to confirm it. That was a few days ago."

I could see Rose was having a hard time dealing with the suspicions of my family. To be honest so was I. I could feel her hands shaking at her sides. I was about to rip my sister a new one when Viktoria came bursting in.

"Dimka!, Roza! I came as soon as I heard."

She flung herself at me and Ross, and I saw Rose relax a bit under the hug.

Victoria ended up guardian to a minor royalty a few towns over. They went to school together and the girl had asked her to be allocated to her. It was a good job, relatively safe and she was assigned to a woman, which I personally liked. Whenever we were in Russia, Viktoria could always make some time to see us.

"So what's new? Normally we don't see you guys until Christmas."

"Rose is pregnant."

I glared at my sister. Not only at the tone she used but also again taking away our chance to actually tell people we were pregnant. This was not how I thought things would go. I was about ready to defend Rose again when Victoria squealed. She hugged Rose and me very tight.

"Oh my God, congratulations."

Rose and I were both stunned. Of course Sonya could formulate the question before either of us could.

"What Viktoria, don't you want to know how?"

Viktoria's look on her face darkened to almost angry and hurt.

"I can't believe you two. How can you not tell your family you were in the process? So what happened? Did you use a sperm donor or an egg donor… or both and just keep it a mystery, or maybe they both took hold and you are having twins!"

I still wasn't able to speak. Although my sister had it wrong it was nice to know at least one member of my family believed Rose wouldn't cheat on me. Rose however got tears in her eyes as she hugged Victoria. I saw my sister looking a little bit guilty.

"Thank you Viki for believing in us. The rest of the little hen cackle either thought I cheated on Dimitri, (Rose was pointing to Sonya) or that I was molested."

Viktoria's eyes grew wide as she stared at her family, looking a little ashamed of them.

"Honestly you guys, as if Rose wouldn't be able to fight off a Moroi, as if a Moroi would be stupid enough to try and the other one is just silly. I would believe illegal experimentation before I believe that one."

There was a bit of an awkward smile on both our faces. She was closer to the truth then any of them.

"Actually Viki. It happened naturally, but you still got your wish. I am carrying twins."

"Huh? Natural?"

"Yup. The whole turning back from the undead thing, made other parts of him not dead anymore too."

Rose giggled at her own joke.

Viktoria's eyes grew even wider.

"No way. You mean I am going to be an actual, biological auntie again."

Rose just nodded, and again with the squeals and hugs. I loved my little sister dearly in that moment.

"So how come he didn't knock you up five years ago?"

She asked as she sat down and started loading her plate with food. The rest of the women were just staring at us in bewilderment and shame. They didn't know how to deal with this.

"Well I was on birth control. Even though I was just using it to stop the world from ending in my PMS rage, it also prevented little Belikov babies."

Rose giggled again and Viktoria giggled with her. Sonya was sitting at the table her arms crossed over her chest not looking me in the face. My mother's eyes met mine and she was sending me warm messages. Although I knew for my mother it didn't matter if the babies were blood or not. Anything for an excuse to make clothes and do some baby shopping. Karolina hadn't said much at all tonight. I think she was observing how the rest of us were reacting. I didn't know how she felt or if she believed us, but it didn't matter. She hadn't chastised Sonya for her behavior, she hadn't defended us, So I think I know what she believed. Although I hope now everyone could just be happy for us.

The rest of dinner was less awkward. Viktoria and Rose were conversing heavily and I tried very hard to focus on that instead of the rest of the family.

Once we were leaving the dinner table and going back towards the living room I thought I saw Yeva slap Sonya against her shoulder. She turned to me and gave me a smile that told me that whatever words I had in stored for Sonya, Yeva's punishment would be much worse.

My mother offered to make us hot coco, but Rose declined. She looked exhausted.

"I think I am just going to go to sleep. Jetlag and all."

I could tell that wasn't the truth but I wouldn't argue with her now. I walked her up the stairs and helped her in bed. Once she was asleep I went back down to have a 'talk' with my family.

When I came back into the living room, Sonya in particular recoiled back.

"I can't believe you. All of you. This was supposed to be happy news. We were already robbed of the first moment when we found out by a judgmental ass claiming Rose had betrayed me and now I hear if from my own family. And then you, Sonya, take away the last chance we have to tell someone who might actually be excited. Rose and I have been through so much crap together I can't believe you would think that of her."

"Dimitri, honey, we are sorry, but it is supposed to be impossible, you can't blame us for not seeing that as the first option."

My mother was right. I can't expect them to simply jump to the conclusion it was a miracle without any other information.

"No, I didn't expect you to. I expected to give us an opportunity to explain, but before either of us could talk, you were already throwing accusations at her. I mean Viktoria didn't know about it being possible but she reacted just fine."

"You are right, we are sorry. Sonya tell your brother you are sorry."

My mother's intense gaze eventually pushed Sonya over the edge.

"Sorry. I know she loves you. It's just people often say they love someone and then do something completely opposite of what is supposed to be love and people sleep with other people just because they can."

There was a bitter tone to her voice and I knew in that moment Sonya wasn't talking about Rose. I sometimes forget that relationships here can be different. Sonya didn't have the best track record with men and I suppose whoever she was seeing recently had cheated on her. Although it was no excuse to how she had treated Rose, I understood.

I sat down next to her as her eyes began to water.

"I am sorry for ruining your news."

She said in between sobs.

"It's okay. In the end it matters what the news is, not how it was brought."

She nodded.

"But you need to apologize to Rose."

"I know."

I felt a little better but I also knew I needed to deliver some more news to my family. No matter how I brought this news, it would be bad. But I decided to wait until tomorrow. Tonight had been exhausting for all of us and I knew Sonya needed a bit of time to straighten herself out before I dropped another bomb on the family. I went upstairs and crawled into bed with my wife. Even if she was asleep she still nudged herself towards me as I entered our bed.

I woke up early in the morning. The house was already buzzing but Roza was still asleep next to me. I decided to leave the warm bed and let her sleep as I walked downstairs. Mama was making breakfast. Sonya was watching tv and Karolina was outside watching the children play in the yard. It was nice to see that because my mother and sisters all lived together Zoya and Katya had crown up more as sisters then cousins. They were only a year apart and were the best of friends.

I sat down on the bench next to my sister.

"Dimka. I am sorry I didn't defend Rose yesterday. I didn't think she cheated on you. I just was too stunned to say anything."

"One of my sisters, stunned into silence? How on earth did I manage that?"

I asked jokingly and Karolina giggled beside me.

"Mama is excited you know. She is in the kitchen cooking God knows how many things for Rose to eat just so she will have something she likes and can tolerate."

I smiled. I was glad we were moving on and Rose got the attention and love she disserved. But now that that matter was settled the other matter for which we had come here was weighing heavy on my mind.

"Karolina, can you remember a time when Randall wasn't drunk or violent?"

My sister looked at me shocked. Our father's behavior had been taboo for years and me especially would deter from any topic involving him. So it was natural Karolina was a bit surprised by my change in topics.

"I know you don't want to hear this Dimka. But yeah. There was a time when I loved our father. There had always been something in the background. Like a dark shadow hanging over him and as it got worse across the years I saw it consume him and turn him into the man you knew him as, but for a brief time he was my dad. He would tuck me in at night and tell the most amazing stories. Even if he was only around a few times a year. I was still little but I remember he smelled nice too. I don't know why that stayed with me the most, but maybe because later in life he smelled mostly like booze."

My sister looked at me wearingly.

"Why the sudden interest in our father?"

I sighed deeply.

"I saw him at court. He was sober. He… Karolina, he is a spirit user. Actually he was the one that told Rose she was pregnant. Although he was mostly like Sonya, and accused her of cheating. But the drinking, the violence it was because of spirit darkness. For years, Karo, for years I have hated the man. And although he could certainly have done things differently, not all of what happened was his fault."

My sister stared at me. Her mouth was open and her eyes wide. The world knew the basics about spirit now, but my family knew a lot more because of what happened with me and Rose and of course Oksana was an ever present source for spirit knowledge. They knew about the darkness. They knew about Adrian and how he had coped over the years.

"They diagnosed him with borderline disorder and he is on pills now. Hoping that that will suppress his spirit abilities. Adrian says he can't turn it off. The reason he got completely out of hand was because he couldn't shut it off. He would see every single person's aura all the time. He wanted to apologize Karo, but I couldn't accept it. I can't let go of the hate I have for him. All I see is mama's face after one of his drunken fits."

She wrapped her arm around me and pulled me close.

"you don't have to forgive him. But maybe it will give you some peace knowing some of it was caused by things outside of his control. Outside of your control."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb Dimka. Sonya and I are mostly afraid we turn into mama and let men walk all over us where you have always feared you would resemble him. You keep all your emotions bottled up claiming to be in control just to prevent yourself from coming unhinged like he did. I am glad that with Rose you were able to let loose a little and let the old Dimitri come out."

I knew she was right. I wasn't just mad at him for not being able to control spirit. I was mad because in some way or another he had still controlled my life even if he hadn't been a part of it since I was thirteen.

"You should tell mama though."

I groaned. I wasn't looking forward to that.

"I was kind of trying to avoid that."

"Because she might be mad?"

"Because I think she might not be."

It was my greatest fear. I had hoped maybe she could find some peace with this information and move on. But a part of me also realized my mother had always loved him. It was what had been the reason he was allowed back into our house over and over again. And every time he would betray her trust and hurt her. First I only blamed my father but over the years I also started to resent my mother for not kicking him out herself. I was afraid that one word from me about how it wasn't entirely his fault she would take him back.

Karolina seemed to understand my implications.

"I know, but in the end it is her choice to make."

It was the same rational Rose had used and they were right. In the end it was my mother's decision to forgive him for the crimes against her. I could only resent or forgive him for the crimes he committed against me.

Mama called us in for breakfast. I saw Rose had made it downstairs and was sitting at the table already munching on a blini. I saw my mother had prepared some green looking drink for Rose. She was making a point not looking at it.

I sat down next to her.

"Isn't it considerate of your mother? She made a vegetable smoothie for the babies."

Her tone left little doubt about whether or not she appreciated my mother's consideration. It also wasn't lost on everybody else at the table including my mother.

"Now Roza, don't fuss. It is healthy for the babies and will help with the morning sickness."

She sighed as she started to chuck down the green goo. She took in all in in one big gulp. When she was done she shivered slightly. I didn't think it was that bad. It was mostly vegetables. But those had never been Rose's favorites although she was actually trying to eat healthier for the twins.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

DPOV

I loved my home. For many reasons, some obvious, some obscure but right now I loved my home because they run on human time.

I was sitting outside in the sun. Just enjoying the warmth on my face. Our normal nocturnal schedule didn't leave much room for sunlight. Most of the time I didn't mind, until I would be outside again and welcome the sun's rays on my skin. I was glad to notice it didn't sting. After what happened at the diner I was trying to figure out what parts of me were still me and what parts weren't. But so far I seemed to be normal. I could do all things Dhampirs do. I wasn't hungry for blood. I didn't have increased strength. It was as if it never happened. But it did.

Rose joined me on the bench with a heavy sigh.

"rough morning?"

I asked with a smile on my face. After breakfast mama had highjacked her and I hadn't seen her since.

"Oh God. Baby names, Baby clothes, baby cribs. She has magazines upon magazines not to mention Olena knows how to do some internet shopping. I had a hard time saying no to her. It is still way too early to be thinking about that kind of stuff."

I chuckled. My mother could be a bit much, certainly when grandchildren were involved.

"Sometimes I am glad I have an emotionless drone for a mother. At least when we tell her she wouldn't be like this."

"Roza, Janine is not an emotionless drone, just maybe not so over the top as my mother."

"Just saying if my mother starts doing stuff like this, I am out."

I laughed. I could only imagine Janine being a proper grandmother. For one she was a bit younger then my mother and two she didn't strike me as the grandmother that knitted sweaters and would buy adorable baby clothes. Now training the twins when they got older that would be more up her alley. I would imagine Abe be more likely to spoil the children with stuff before Janine would.

"So why are you brooding in the lovely morning sun?"

Rose had her eyes closed and was enjoying the sun just like me. I often wondered if she needed the sun more than the average Dhampir because of her heritage. Her whole body and complexion being more built for warm and sunny weather.

"I wasn't brooding."

I pouted at her. She just raised her eyebrows in question.

"I was just wondering if I could."

I know my voice sounded small. I had dreaded the answer. I knew I could still tolerate the sun. I hadn't burst into flames after the diner incident but maybe it would seep through. Maybe more like Moroi would experience the sun.

She grabbed my hand after my admission.

"And?"

"Still love it."

"Do you feel any different?"

"Right now? No. It is as if it didn't happen."

"How did it feel at the diner."

I sighed.

"Honestly I didn't realize something was wrong until I sank my teeth into him and saw the fear on your face. Before that I was just surprised at how slow they were. I had felt that strength before, my body recognized it and knew how to handle it. But it was strange having that strength and still have my soul. After I realized what was happening I was mostly just scared. I associate that strength with all the horrible things I have done but I was still in control here. The juxtaposition was strange."

"The what now?"

"the contrast."

"Oh."

"What did you feel before you fed off of him?"

"I felt weakened. It was different from the bloodlust as Strigoi. It wasn't necessarily his blood I was after. It was his strength. I have thought about it and I think I needed to replenish the strength I used up fighting the other one. Strigoi can handle that sort of strength because their bodies are undead and they are immortal, but this kind of power cannot be handled by our bodies so I needed his power to recuperate. I think it is why I haven't felt it since and why I don't feel the need for anybody else's blood. It is specifically Strigoi blood that can restore that power. It is why after I drank from him I was able to return back to normal."

I saw Rose was contemplating my words. Usually she was the one coming up with crazy theories.

"What about you? Have you felt any changes?"

"No, but if you are right I wouldn't. I would have to transform first, use up some strength and then see if I would need to feed off of a Strigoi."

I nodded. That at least was something I liked about this theory and hoped it was true. As long as we didn't transform we didn't have to prey on Strigoi.

"I think it is kind of poetic."

"Poetic how?"

I could think of a lot of things but poetic wasn't what first came to mind.

"The hunted become the hunters and the predator the prey."

I smiled. That was poetic. I hated what Nathan had done to me. Me especially had a problem with having Strigoi attributes again but in the end it did mean we would be stronger in battle. The two Strigoi at the diner were childsplay for me. But it wasn't like Nathan had wanted. It only worked on me because I was turned back and Rose only survived because she was pregnant with the twins. I wondered if the twins would also become like this? They didn't get tattooed but the fact they were able to save their mother was testimony that they were exposed to the Strigoi blood.

I pulled Rose close and just enjoyed being with her in the sun. I brought her head close to mine and I smelled her hair. It has always smelled good but I was now able to pick out every different fragrance note from her shampoo and I could distinguish what was coming from her shampoo and what was coming from her. I pulled back slightly the smell overwhelming my senses.

Rose looked up at me a bit worried.

"It's fine Roza, just fine."

She didn't believe me, I could tell, but she was letting it go.

RPOV

I knew it was bothering Dimitri. I could only imagine how he felt about this. Between the major news of his father, the twins and now him being able to turn in and back from a Strigoi like state I could see the cracks forming in his exterior. He looked tired. He was tired. I was glad Lissa send us on a little vacation. It would do us both some good just hanging with the family.

I was currently on the couch reading a book. A book Olena had so graciously got me in English and said it was the best pregnancy book. I didn't really want to read it but I was making an effort not to slight her. I was still on the 'your baby is the size of a grain of rice' page. I was seriously avoiding the 'your baby will destroy you nether regions as it comes out of you' pages. After a few pages I saw Sonya standing in the doorway looking a little hesitant.

"Can I sit with you?"

Sonya had never asked before and well it is her house so I was wondering what it was that had her so nervous and polite.

"Sure."

"Roza, I… I mean… about yesterday… I shouldn't have… I am sorry."

Dimitri had informed me of Sonya's softening circumstances and I wasn't mad at her anymore.

"It's okay, Sonya, I can understand how you came to that conclusion when you have experiences something like that yourself, but I need you to believe I would never do that to Dimitri."

She nodded still not looking me in the eye.

"I know. Deep down I know. What you two have is the real thing. Maybe I was jealous because no matter how hard I try there doesn't seem to be a happily ever after for me."

I laughed.

"Well I don't know about the happily ever after. We went through a lot of shit together. And maybe that is part of what makes us, us. I don't just love Dimitri. I don't just get Dimitri. I have history with Dimitri. So many challenges we had to overcome to be here, so many challenges still to come. I know that there is a special someone out there for everyone. Just don't be in too much rush to get there. Not all of us can find their soul mate at seventeen. Although to be fair that was part of the challenges."

We both laughed at that.

"You are right. I shouldn't have doubted you Roza. You are like my sister even if we don't always get along."

There was an awkward hug after those words and we actually chatted about the pregnancy a little.

"Actually right now is their biggest growth spurt. They were only a few cells a few weeks ago and now they are already have tiny bodies and forming a circulatory system. It is why women get so tired now. Don't feel anything like that yet?"

As she was asking I was considering it. I didn't feel particularly tired but I did notice my body was a bit more sluggish it just wasn't sleep tired, it was more several hours of training tired. As I focused on that feeling, I felt the edge. I felt it and before I could stop myself, I fell over. My whole body changed. It was hard wired with electricity as it seemed. I didn't like the feeling as it was washing over me. I was gripping the couch and felt the wood in the couch break under my touch. I vaguely registered Sonya's screams as she ran out of the living room.

I didn't know what I was feeling but I knew one thing. I was hungry. I felt like I hadn't eaten in weeks. It was as if the hunger was consuming me.

Dimitri came running into the living room probably as a reaction to her screaming. Viktoria was behind him and I could hear a collective intake of breathe.

"Oh Roza."

Viktoria looked absolutely terrified and was holding everyone back. I saw she was pulling a stake from her purse.

"No, don't, I'll take care of this. Just stay back."

Dimitri all but growled to Viktoria. I would agree with him though. I didn't want that stake anywhere near me.

"Roza? How are you feeling?"

"Hungry."

"Are you still with me?"

I didn't understand the question. Where would I go?

"What? Why?"

"Roza, your eyes are red."

I groaned. Of course they were. That was the hunger. But I hadn't used any Strigoi like strength like Dimitri had. Maybe his theory was wrong. I mean I didn't even know I had Strigoi strength. Although maybe the couch thought differently.

"What happened to set this off?"

"I don't know comrade. Sonya and I were talking. Baby stuff. Apparently the twins are going through a growth spurt now."

As the words left my mouth I understood what was happening. Dimitri came to the same conclusion. The twins were using Strigoi strength to grow. The tattoo had affected them. The Strigoi blood was in their system now, helping them grow. Even if I wasn't using it personally, my body was losing strength.

I saw Dimitri pick up the letter opener on the desk next to the couch. He made a gash across his wrists.

"Roza, you need to feed."

"That won't work Dimitri. Even if it did it would mean you would lose some as well and would have to feed again."

"I know, we can go hunting tonight but for now you need something to curp the hunger even if it only a little."

I nodded. I hesitated to move to his wrist but Dimitri didn't allow me to pull back. He closed the distance and held it inches from my mouth. I smelled the blood. Blood used to smell like iron to me. Like rust, but now it smelled amazing. Sweet and rich. I brought my mouth to his wrist and sank my teeth in his flesh. I didn't even notice I had fangs but it made sense. I only took a few sips. I wanted more, a lot more. But I needed to pace myself. If I took too much not only would it hurt Dimitri it would just transfer the Strigoi state and Dimitri would have to feed.

I pulled back and licked my lips. I closed my eyes and took a few cleansing breathes before I opened them again. I saw visual relief on Dimitri's face. I moved my hand to my mouth to feel my teeth but my fangs were gone.

"How are you feeling?"

"I am okay. It is weird. I know what it is like to lose control or be on the brink of losing control. Even if I recognized that strength was not my own, it didn't feel like it did with the spirit darkness. I was in control just ravenous."

"I know. It was the same for me. It was the associating I had with that kind of power that set me on edge but I never felt like I wasn't in control. That is good though."

"Well in control yes, but I did feel less like myself, or more like me in battle mode. It was as if I was ready to storm a Strigoi hide-out. The adrenaline was pumping through my body willing me into action."

Dimitri was nodding. I knew we both had our brushes with the darkside of power but somehow this was different. But the whole drinking blood thing still bothered me.

"What the hell is going on?"

I looked over to see Viktoria still standing in the doorway holding her stake all the other Belikova women behind her.

Dimitri sighed deeply.

"Mama would you put some tea on, this is going to be a long story."

Dimitri helped me up and together we sat at the dining room table. Dimitri and I on one side, the rest of them on the other. Only Yeva dared to sit in the middle close to us.

"Okay so a few weeks ago…"

After we iterated the story as we knew it I saw all four women look at us in shock. Yeva however had gone back to her knitting half way through the story.

Olena was the first to speak.

"So whatever Nathan did to you, it is happening to the twins too?"

I nodded but looked down at my fingers. I was angry with Nathan for not only doing this to us but to them even if he didn't know it. As far as I could tell we wouldn't be turning into a soulless monster anytime soon and neither would the twins but they were already different because they had two Dhampir parents. This wasn't helping matters.

"They will be fine. Better than fine. They will be legendary, just like their parents."

Yeva's words were an odd mix between comforting and a feeling of dread. I am glad they will be fine, but I didn't want them legendary. I wanted them to be happy. And although the two weren't mutually exclusive they usually did get in the way of each other. And I didn't know if I wanted to be legendary either. I mean we already had kick-ass reputation but I didn't want to know what would happen for us to become legendary. Usually though, it involved dying.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

DPOV

That afternoon after everyone had settled down and weren't concerned anymore about Rose eating them alive, I called Sydney.

"Dimitri. How are things in Russia?"

I took a deep breath.

"Fine, fine. Sydney I need a favor."

"Okay." Her voice was a little startled. I am not usually the one asking for favors.

"I need you to figure out if there is a way to get rid of these tattoo's. We have come across some unwanted side effects."

"Okay I'll look into it, but I wouldn't recommend the usual methods. What kind of side effects?"

I took another deep breath and relayed the events of the past few days to Sydney.

"Sydney?"

I asked after a few moments of silence.

"Uh yeah. I'll look into it."

"Oh and Sydney, please keep it between us for now. Adrian already knows some of it so I don't mind you discussing it with him, but no Lissa."

"Alright."

I hung up the phone and walked into the kitchen where my mother was busy preparing God knows what.

"Mama, do you have the number of the local alchemist?"

She looked at me funny but she shook her head. Great now how was I going to get that number. I had the answer but I was dreading that call. We had discussed Rose's parents last night. We still needed to tell them we were pregnant and I think they should also know about our new found strength. We had avoided telling them anything about the experiments until Nathan was moved away from court. It would be way too easy for Abe to pull some strings at court and have Nathan die a horrible horrible death. Abe was all over the place mostly and Janine had actually been traveling a bit as well. They both made it to court a few weeks at a time to visit us. Rose and I had discussed them coming here. At that point we only knew the tattoo affected me but I was already preparing to extend out vacation so that I could get this under control before we would go back to court.

So I picked up my phone and dialed Abe's private number.

"Dimitri, son, how are you."

Already off to a good start. He only called me son if something was not right. The nicer he became the more I would worry.

"Abe I need a favor."

"Oh dangerous words, Belikov. This doesn't have anything to do with the fact you two went missing for over a week and forget to tell your poor inlaws, now would it?"

Shit. Abe and his sources. I was actually surprised he didn't already know we were pregnant.

"Sort of. I need the number for the local alchemist here in Baia. As a matter of fact, why don't you and Janine head over here. I don't want to have this conversation over the phone."

Abe sobered up quite fast.

"You're in Baia and are willingly inviting your inlaws, it must be serious."

"We are fine, but yeah, we need to discuss a few things."

"Alright. I'll send you the contact details for the alchemist and I'll pick Janine up and come your way. We'll be there in a day or two."

We hung up and I saw my phone flash which indicated Abe had send the details. Now for my last call.

The phone rang and a Russian voice answered on the other side of the line.

"Hello this is guardian Dimitri Belikov. I need information about local Strigoi sightings near Baia."

The alchemist was actually helpful. Although Baia was too protected by numbers to be much of a Strigoi hideout there were several places around here were I could look, but I needed to know recent sightings. I thought about going back to the diner, but mostly Strigoi had their own hunting ground. It would be a while before other's took the place of the two I killed.

After dinner and after the sun had gone down I packed a few things for the road and Rose and I were off. I didn't like bringing Rose into danger but she needed to feed. And I couldn't really bring a Strigoi to the house now could I. We had discussed it. I would go in and subdue the Strigoi and after I did she would come in and feed. I was wondering if she would be able to turn the Strigoi-like state on.

The drive to where the alchemists had led me was at least an hour. It was deep into the wilderness and only a few people came here. But there were some tourists that came by during this season so there was enough food for Strigoi that wanted easy prey. I hoped them going after easy prey would mean they weren't very strong, but one could only hope.

I parked the car at a small cabin and motioned Rose to stay inside. I didn't bother to lock the doors. It wouldn't stop the Strigoi anyway. I kicked the door in and saw two Strigoi startled but regaining their focus quickly. I didn't know if I was doing it on purpose or if it was a reaction to danger but I could feel the strength coming from the tattoo radiate through my body and granting me the strength I needed to subdue them. And if I hadn't felt it, their reactions said enough. The transformation to a more Strigoi like state with red eyes and fangs wasn't lost on my prey. They were clearly confused. It gave me the necessary edge and I was able to snap the first one's neck. I had the other pinned to my body in a few more seconds. I would never admit it out loud but having Strigoi strength did have its uses. Once I had him fully secured I called out to Rose. She came in and honed in on the Strigoi I was keeping close to my body. His arms pinned behind his back.

When I had incapacitated him I had drawn a little blood and I could feel the pull of that blood. Of that power. Rose seemed to notice it too. Because she transformed after she smelled it. She took one last look at and then sank her teeth into the neck of the Strigoi. He whimpered in pain. I suppose that had been one thing we hadn't inherited from them, their endorphin filled saliva. Good, let him suffer.

I felt the strength in the man go and all that was holding him up was me. Rose was about half way through when I joined her, sinking my teeth into the other side of his neck. It was a strange sensation. I could almost feel Rose being connected to me through the Strigoi. The connection only wavering after the body was drained. Rose moved over to the other body and pulled him up towards her. He was still unconscious but it wouldn't be long. She drained the other body while I watched her. There was a strange pull towards her I had never felt. She had always been beautiful and I had always seen her beauty as a true warrior even covered in blood, but as I was staring at her now, her teeth sunk into the neck of the Strigoi it's small whimpered the only sign of life left, which would soon fade as well, blood spilling from the corners of her mouth and following a trail on her chin her neck and over her breast I felt drawn to her in a primal way. A like calling to like.

When she was done and stood up from the body I didn't hesitate at all. I kissed her. I could still taste the blood of her victim on her lips and relished in the sweet nectar combined with the taste of her mouth. It was different kissing her with fangs but I didn't mind. I would find uses for them yet. I picked her up and her legs wrapped around my waist. I pushed her up against the wall for support and started to unbutton her coat. She did the same with mine. I didn't have the patience to remove all her clothing so I only took off the one that would get in my way. She unbuckled my pants and simply slid it down my legs. The moment I claimed her I growled in ecstasy. We have had our share of wild rides. Somehow we always get worked up after a fight. But this was different. This wasn't rough sex, this was primal and brutal. But as always she was matching me toe to toe. Her rhythm matched my own as she grabbed a pipe hanging over her for support. The sounds coming from both of us couldn't even be classified as moans anymore. I knew from my Strigoi days that every sensation was heightened, it was the same now. I felt her breathing against my chest. I felt the sweat on her skin. I felt her walls around my member stimulating me and sending shivers up my spine. I could almost feel the electricity move along my neurons sending pleasure to my brain. The experience was amazing. In the brutality of it all I had one more desire I wanted to fulfill but I was resisting hard. That was until I felt Rose's fangs pierce my skin and exchange the power between us. It wasn't out of hunger. I knew that. It was the same thing I had felt when we were feeding on the Strigoi together. It was a connection between us two. I could no longer hold back my own desire and sunk my teeth into her delicate neck completing the circle. When I finished I held her in place. Allowing me to spill into her and fill her completely. Her own orgasm wasn't far behind as I felt her entire body clench around me. I let go of her neck and she did the same. We were looking into each other's eyes and I could still see every single drop of sweat, feel every single hitch in her breath. As we both came down from our highs I could no longer focus on every detail of her. It was like she was becoming blurry. I saw her eyes return to their normal brown color and was almost sad to feel the power drain away. I could see the wound that was on her neck from my bite but it was already dissipating. It was healing itself. I didn't feel any pain in my neck either so I assumed the same was happening to me. I placed her down on the ground and held her there for a moment until her own legs could carry her again.

There was almost an awkward silence once we got into the car.

"So that was…" I began

"Yeah." She eloquently responded

"I mean I enjoyed it greatly but it was…"

"Yeah."

"How are you feeling?"

She looked at me and gave a thousand watt smile.

"Thoroughly satisfied."

I laughed. I know she meant that feeding off of them had done its job but we couldn't exactly ignore what happened afterwards.

RPOV

The day after Abe and Janine were on our doorstep. I was nervous. We discussed we would first share the good news and hope they reacted different from Dimitri's family.

"So tell me what you couldn't tell us over the phone." He barked at Dimitri.

"Hello to you too old man. Nice to see you Rose. How have you been Rose. Very good old man, how about you?"

I asked mimicking his voice, or at least an attempt to mimic his voice, on his parts of the conversation.

He smiled and walked over to me and kissed me on the check.

"Hello little girl. How have you been. Any news? Getting kidnapped maybe?"

I rolled my eyes. My father could be very dramatic. Not like me at all.

"Actually we have a lot of news. Why don't you sit down first and have some coffee."

He gave me a glare but did sit down. Olena had made coffee and tea for everyone but left to go outside with the others giving us some privacy.'

"So care to tell us what happened?"

My mother was now the one taking the lead. Where my father was openly hurt we didn't contact him I knew my mother was just seething on the inside. I looked down at my hands. I wanted to tell them about the twins first.

"Well, we will get to that in a minute. But on a slightly related topic… We are pregnant."

It was almost funny to see the infamous Abe Mazur and well renowned Guardian Janine Hathaway speechless. Not only that but their mouths had dropped open. I was tempted to throw a cookie Olena had provided to see if I could aim true.

"How is that related to you guys missing?"

"Well it sort of happened while we were… away."

I actually turned a little red. Although I had no trouble discussing my active sex life with just about anyone much to the dismay of Dimitri and most recently Hans, I had always been a little reluctant to share that specific detail of my life with my parents.

"What is the world happened for you to get pregnant?"

Now I just stared at my mother.

"Well mom, when a boy and a girl like each other very much…"

She rolled her eyes.

"I know how babies are made, Rose. I had you. But I mean how did you two make a baby?"

Well at least my parents believed it was Dimitri's. That was a step up from the Belikovs.

"Babies, not baby. Twins. But we think it is because Dimitri was turned back from Strigoi. He has spirit running through him all the time. It is why he is immune to turning again. And probably what made it possible for us to conceive. I was off of birth control for a week before it happened."

I saw both my parents looking shocked. Still Abe hasn't said anything. My mother was asking the right questions and wasn't calling me whore so all was good but I couldn't determine how they felt. That was until my father had the biggest goofiest smile on his face I have ever seen.

"I am going to be a grandfather?"

I nodded vigorously. I was very happy he was reacting this way. We had disserved a happy response.

However, there was a gleem in his eyes I didn't like. It was the same look Olena had and although she can be a handful Olena was at least restricted by funds and delivery possibilities. Abe however had no such restrictions. I shuddered at the thought. We would need a bigger apartment at the palace.

"Rose, not that I am not happy to be a grandmother but what happened? You two were kidnapped and I don't even here about it?"

"Well mom, it isn't so much that you didn't hear about it, it was more dad we were trying to keep in the dark. Nathan Ivashkov was the one who had us kidnapped and despite all the things he has done he is still Adrian's father and I would like for him to at least have the option to visit his father in jail instead of at the graveyard."

I made a pointed look towards my father. His eyes only narrowed.

"What did that idiot do that would warrant such a reaction from me."

His tone was dangerous. I often forgot Abe was who he was because he was always kind and gentle with me. Even with Dimitri is was mostly fun and empty threats but his voice left no doubt as to his intentions towards Nathan should he not like the answer. And he was certainly not going to like the answer.

"Well dad…"

This time I told the story. And which each passing minute both my parents got more and more angry. When I got to the events of the past few days and told them what happened last night, the hunting part, not the part after, they had become so silent I was beginning to worry. They weren't even trying to hide their rage. It just prevented them for forming any response. Not good.

"He did what? To my daughter, to my grandchildren."

"Hey, what about Dimitri."

"To my son in law!"

They kept raging on and on. Dimitri and I just sat there waiting for them to stop fuming.

"It's alright, we are alright. We were never like everybody else and this is just an extension of that. Yeva assured us the twins will be fine. They have already survived so much in their very short life span, and they have saved their mother, they can handle this."

"But honey…"

My mother started and I knew what she wanted to say, but there wasn't anything we could do about this. It happened, we are alive and that is what matters.

Afterwards we went back to more pleasant conversations and Olena and Yeva joined us in the living room. My parents stayed for dinner and I tried very hard to ignore Abe whispering with Olena. God knows what they were talking about. I got really scared when Olena started to get the baby catalogs and Abe very enthusiastically was reading it with her.

Half way through dinner Dimitri got a call and walked away from the table. I hadn't seen who was on the phone but his mood was a little lighter when he came back. I cast him a curious glance and he mouthed he would tell me later. It was a long sit after that. I couldn't even appreciate the desert. I was just too curious. After dinner I practically dragged Dimitri upstairs.

"So who was that?"

"Sydney. I asked her to look into the tattoos a bit more. I had explained to her some of the side effects and she thinks she found a way to reverse the tattoos. She believed the alchemist that made the tattoos had to adapt the formula to accommodate the Strigoi blood."

I saw he was excited. It was hard for me to crush his dreams. I know this bothered him a lot. I can only imagine how it feels for him. But we couldn't get rid of the tattoos.

"Dimitri, I don't want her to take it away."

He looked at me shocked.

"Roza, I know it gives us an advantage in the field but it isn't worth it."

I shook my head,

"It's not like that. It's just… I don't want them to be alone."

He looked very confused.

"Dimitri, even if we are somehow able to negate the effects of the tattoo it will be different for the twins. It is engrained into them. The fact I need Strigoi blood to support them proves that. I don't want them to be the only one of their kind."

There was a warm expression on his face. He hadn't considered it like that but I knew in the moment he agreed. They would already be special because they were sired by two Dhampirs. Even if somehow we could hide that fact they would still be raised by two Dhampirs a thing in itself which didn't happen very often.

"Okay. I'll call Sydney and tell her it won't be necessary. But if this is how it going to be from now on. We need to know that we are in complete control. We can't go transforming at any time. I think we should extend our vacation and train here."

I nodded. He was right. If we were going to do this we needed to be in control. Both of the transformation and the need for blood. So far I hadn't had the urge for any other kind of blood and it needed to stay that way.

I watched as he made the call to Sydney, explaining the situation to her and thanking her for her time and effort.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

DPOV

I knew I would be expecting a call from him. I had told Sydney it was fine if she shared the information with Adrian so it was no surprise when I was being called into a spirit dream.

"Hey cous."

"Hey."

I answered.

"So my wife has been telling me some interesting things, how much of that is true?"

"Have you ever known your wife not to tell the truth?"

"Jesus, man. She also told me you two are refusing a chance to get rid of it."

I nodded as I sat down next to him on the bench his mind had conjured for us.

"I wanted one but Rose made an excellent point. It has affected the twins as well and I doubt taking the tattoo away from us would do the same for the twins. Whatever happened, it is part of them now. Rose didn't want them to be alone in that. They need people like them to help them and that understand them. I hadn't thought about it like that, but she is right. We need to figure out how much we are affected and how we can control it, so we can pass that onto the twins."

Adrian nodded and looked down at his hands.

"Sorry he did this. I know he didn't know but he experimented on unborn children. They will be affected their entire lives. I am sorry."

I had blamed Nathan too but I had come to a conclusion that maybe would help Adrian too.

"Don't be. If he hadn't kidnapped us, Rose would have never gone off birth control and we never would have had the twins. We kind of made the decision after we got kidnapped that it wasn't in the cards for us, because we attract trouble and would most likely leave them orphaned. But your father took care of both problems. I fought a few Strigoi the last couple of days and it has definitely become easier. In a way I am also grateful to him."

Adrian smiled at me but there was no humor behind it.

"That's messed up."

"Yeah." More things were messed up. The bloodlust, the connection Rose and I made through the feeding, what happened afterwards. All very very messed up. But our new reality.

"Wow, what happened."

I looked at Adrian confused.

"Your aura just spiked… with… dirty, dirty thoughts."

I was taken aback by his statement. Damn he could read aura's well.

"Dimitri. What happened?"

He was like a kid in a candy store. He wasn't going to let it go. I was never a fan of discussing my intimate life with anybody, in large contrast to my wife, but I definitely wasn't comfortable discussing it with the only other person that had seen Rose naked. I mean I know they didn't go through with it but he had still seen her that way.

I gave him the short and very superficial version.

"Wow. So there is like a connection when you feed."

I nodded.

"And you fed off each other while…"

I nodded again.

"That's hot."

I groaned. I so didn't need Adrian to imagine what we looked like. After he thought he had humiliated me enough he became serious again.

"Thanks for looking at it like that. I know it was selfish of me but I also kind off wanted you to have kids so Declan wouldn't be alone either, but I suppose they are widely different now, aren't they."

Yes they were different, but whether people would figure out who Declan really was or not, he would always be an outcast. I suppose so would our children. In one way or another. I began to appreciate more and more what Rose said about them not being alone.

"So told them the other news yet? About your father?"

"I told my sister. Karolina still remembers him before he was affected too much by spirit. I suppose at one point or another he was actually a good father. She missed that man and was glad to know that he was still in there somewhere. But honestly after we told them about the twins, well that was enough shock, excitement and accusations for one night."

"Accusations?"

"Yeah. Rose come in puking after a bumpy ride and they immediately guessed she was pregnant before we had a chance to explain. Sonya accused her of cheating on me and my mother asked if she had been assaulted."

"Seriously?"

I nodded.

"She must have been pissed."

"Actually I was more mad than Rose was. It was Viktoria that saved the day. Things have calmed down a bit after that."

He just shook his head.

"And I thought my family was weird."

"They are your family."

"Oh yeah."

RPOV

The next morning I was determined to wake up early and get my training gear on and train. We needed to learn how to control this thing and the sooner the better. I knew better then to return to court and willy nilly transform in front of people and be chased around by pitchforks, torches and stakes.

However when I finally did wake up I was tangled in the sheets a fully dressed Dimitri sitting beside me, his back against the bed board and a book in his hand. I looked at the clock and I had slept half the morning away.

"Good morning sleeping beauty."

I groaned. Flattery will get him nowhere.

"Why didn't you wake me up before? We have training to do."

He chuckled.

"Believe me I tried, but after three years of marriage and countless missions I know a losing battle when I see one."

I just glared at him.

"Mama saved you some breakfast."

I immediately perked up a bit. Dimitri actually looked a little hurt. Food had done what he could not: get me out of bed.

I put on my training gear and so did Dimitri. I was admiring his toned chest and the tight shirt he was wearing.

When we got down stairs Olena looked at me funny.

"Rose why are you in training gear?"

"Because we're going to train?"

She looked startled, almost panicked. She was looking pleadingly at Dimitri.

"Mama don't even start. I will keep an eye out, but asking Rose to stop training for months at a time just isn't doable. I had had a hard time convincing her slayer missions were out of the question."

"You did not. I know I can't go on them anymore. I just didn't see the problem in me still being a part of them and coordinating them."

I heard Dimitri sigh. We had eventually agreed neither one of us would go on slayer missions anymore. Although that was before we discovered Strigoi became our new prey.

He just grabbed some food off of the counter kissed his mother's cheek and was guiding my body into the backyard without saying a word.

"Okay so how do we start?"

"I thought about maybe starting with something non-physical. It will probably cause the least amount of energy. Maybe we can see if we can hear more or something."

He seemed very unsure of what he was saying. I mean we were kind off making it up as we go but Dimitri wasn't really with his head in the game. So I took the lead.

I walked further into the yard. I closed my eyes and just listened to all the sounds around me. The birds flying above my head, the wind going through the trees. The sounds of people coming from inside the house. But they were all sounds I would normally hear to. I would have to dig deeper. I tried to listen and identify the birds by their song. I knew Olena was working in the kitchen but I was trying to hear what she was doing.

When I finally pushed past a barrier, the sounds were almost overwhelming. I seemed to be able to hear everything. I could not only hear the birds above us but also the ones miles away, each bird having their own telltale song. I could hear the whisk hit the glass bowl Olena was mixing batter in. I could hear the magazine pages being flipped in the girl's room upstairs.

I opened my eyes. The sun was bright against my eyes but as I adjusted to the sunlight I could see the intense green of the leaves, the subtle shades of grey in the clouds. Not only that, but I could make out every single groove of the trunk of the tree. I could practically count the different strands of grass on the yard. I turned around to Dimitri. By the look on his face I had succeeded in transforming at will. Sort of. I looked at him as if looking at him for the first time. He looked exquisite. His skin slightly tan and with stopples, his hair a mix of brown colors and his eyes a deep pool of chocolate brown so vivid I could swim in them.

I never understood the appeal of willingly becoming Strigoi. I didn't care about the power, the speed or the immortality. I didn't see the point in having forever if you didn't have your soul. The price was simply too high, but I was seriously rethinking the idea. When I looked up I could see the stars even if it was daytime. I was finding it ironic that such a 'gift' is lost on those that do not have the soul to appreciate this anymore.

"This is amazing."

There was a strange look across his face. It wasn't actually disgust as I would have expected but I couldn't really place it.

"Can you turn it back off?"

I tried hard. I tried focusing on myself. I closed my eyes so I at least wouldn't feel the loss of my sight so much. I breathed in an out. The moment I came back to myself it felt like the world was dumped in darkness. It was like I was deaf and when I opened my eyes it felt like I was blind. But the relief on Dimitri's face pulled me back from my obvious loss and I pulled myself together.

I tried several more times that day and I was able to transition faster in and out. By the end I felt like I had it under control. Dimitri however was having a hard time. He hadn't transformed once. He became more and more agitated.

He humphed and sat down. He was running his hand through his air. He was getting frustrated.

I sat down next to him.

"Why can't I do it? I have to do it."

I had a pretty good idea why he wasn't able to do it.

"Dimitri, Could it be you don't want to do this?"

He sighed deeply.

"I know this is hard for you. If you don't want to do this, you can ask Sydney for the cure. I can do this for the both of us."

He looked at me.

"No Rose, I agree with you. I want to be there for them and for you. At least while you're pregnant I don't feel comfortable to let you feed alone. I need to control this. It's just…"

I took his hand in my own. I didn't say anything. I would wait until he wanted to talk.

"I don't want to do this the same reason an alcholic doesn't go into a bar and a recovering addict doesn't go back to the place he doses."

"You're afraid you'll like it."

He nodded.

"When I was Strigoi I reveled in the power. The world seemed bigger. Brighter. I could hear everything, see everything. When I got my soul back I was ashamed to admit I missed it. I hated everything I was back then, hated everything I did. But I still missed it."

I leaned into him, hoping I could bring him some comfort. He grabbed me by the waist and hugged me close to him.

"I understand. It is like seeing the world for the first time. It is amazing. But transforming now doesn't mean you will become that again. Somehow we are the perfect inbetween, having best of both worlds. You are allowed to enjoy the benefits. God knows we have suffered the bad and will probably suffer more of the bad because of it."

He sighed deeply.

"Dimitri. For good or for bad it is a part of you. Your experiences made you who you are. That time you spent as a Strigoi have made you who you are. If you hadn't, we would never have had the twins."

He smiled.

"you are right. It is just a little frustrating to know you have better control than I do. You have been able to do this in a day."

I laughed.

"Well I have had years of experience in mental barricades. Besides you just have to focus on keeping yourself grounded and not exerting to much energy."

"I thought I was supposed to be telling you all this kind of zen stuff."

"Ah but the student has become the master."

He laughed.

"Life only throws at you what you can handle."

He laughed more.

"A caterpillar has transformed into a beautiful butterfly."

"Okay now you are just messing with me."

I laughed.

"I think we should call it a day. I think I can smell your moms cooking and I don't need super smell to do that."

I stood up and pulled Dimitri with me.

"Hold on."

He said. I turned around and saw Dimitri close his eyes. He was taking several deep breaths and opened them. The red rings around his eyes were a large contrast to his brown orbs. The funny things was though that he did look different from his Strigoi days. I didn't recoil back like I had at a first glance at the diner. Maybe it was because he wasn't deadly pale but his usual tan self. Maybe because his eyes convoyed pure love instead of cruelty as they once did.

I smiled back at him and kissed him gently on his lips. When he pulled back he closed his eyes again and when they opened this time they were a perfect brown again. All traces of red removed. There was a sign of exhaustion on his face, but it wasn't physical exhaustion it was mental exhaustion. He had been dealing with this for days. But he was slowly accepting his new nature as was I. I hated what Nathan did to us, to the twins but I couldn't help feeling this was what was necessary.

At the dinner table Dimitri was quiet again. But I knew this time it wasn't about what Nathan had done, it was what his brother had done. He had been putting it off for days. Honestly we had to get things under control first. There hadn't been much time to discuss this but I knew now that things were settling down on the Strigoi and twin front it was time to drop the next bomb. Hopefully it would be the last in a while.

"So there was also something else I wanted to talk to you all about."

"There is more? What Strigoi blood induced twins not enough?"

Sonya was being half serious, half not so serious.

"Yeah well I ran into Randall at court."

Well this got the attention of everybody at the table. Sonya looked outraged at Dimitri even mentioning that name. Karoline seemed to encourage Dimitri to continue but didn't seem shocked he was bringing it up. Viktoria was just a little indifferent. I realized she probably didn't even remember Randall. But there was a look in Olena's eyes I knew Dimitri had feared. She was fidgeting with her hands under the table. She looked nervous. She wanted to hear what he had to say but didn't want to look to eager maybe ashamed of what her children might think of her.

"He was apparently sober and yelling at Nathan for daring to take me as one of his test subjects. Adrian was there and noticed something about Randall no one ever figured out. He was a spirit user and apparently a powerful one. He never knew himself. He can read aura's like Adrian but he can't turn it on or off like Adrian can. Without medication he sees them all the time. He is actually the one that told us Rose was pregnant with twins. He is on medication now. He was diagnosed with borderline disorder. Most spirit users have an underlying mental disorder which drives them towards spirit."

I saw them all taking in the news. They all knew enough about spirit to understand the implications but I also knew especially Sonya would have a hard time letting go of her hatred towards the man. In many ways she is similar to Dimitri.

It was Olena which broke the silence first.

"So it wasn't his fault then. He didn't mean to hurt me. He did actually love me."

I wasn't particularly thrilled with her statement. She was right in some ways. I do actually think Randall loved her at one point or another but I knew one thing. He had been incredibly selfish in staying around.

"Olena? Some of it wasn't his fault. He used alcohol to try and dull the effects of spirit even if he didn't know he was suffering from them. Also seeing aura's all the time would leave him with a lot of darkness which increased his tendencies towards violence. That wasn't his fault. I know what spirit darkness can do and I understand he wasn't strong enough to stop it. But he made the selfish decision to stay, to keep coming back over and over again. If he had wanted to save all of you he could have left and never come back."

She nodded and I heard Sonya humph in agreement.

"But then I would never have had Viktoria."

Her voice was small and I realized she had already forgiven Randall long ago because even after everything he had done to her, he had provided her with her children and her children were everything to her. I knew Olena had been focusing on the good that their relationship had brought, not the bad. I knew she would have gone through all of this again if it meant she would have her children.

"I am glad he is figuring out a way to deal with the darkness and find his way back to himself. He has been lost for so long. Thank you Dimitri for telling me."

I realized that Dimitri's fear and my own were unfounded. Olena wouldn't go running back to Randall. She had made peace with the situation a long time ago. But was just glad to know that the man she once loved, that had given her such joy in her life in the form of her children was still in there and finding a way to life a good and stable life again.

I knew the most processing had to be done in the kids. Karolina seemed at peace. Viktoria didn't know what to do with the information and Sonya was looking at Dimitri for confirmation that we were all idiots for forgiving him.

That night we were lying in our bed. Well Dimitri's old bed.

"I think that went rather well." Dimitri said letting out a breath I think he had been holding for days.

"You told Karolina already didn't you."

"yeah. She is the only one of us that remembers him other than a drunk violent person. Well other than my mother."

"You did good. It is up to everyone else to make peace with that or not."

"I know. It is just hard telling them about him when I don't even know how I feel."

I scootched over to him as he wrapped me in his arms.

"You don't have to figure things out all at once. These things take time."

"Again with the zen-lessons. I am not liking this one bit. I am supposed to be the calm one and you the rash one."

We both laughed at that.

"Well I am more mature now."

He picked me up and laid me down on the bed. He was hovering over me, his hands holding mind above my head. He kissed me gently.

"Don't do anymore maturing. I don't want you to change. I like you just the way you are."

He kissed me again and this time he let go of my hands so I could knot them into his hair. His lips were soft against mine, warm and inviting. I felt his tongue slowly graze my lips as I opened up for him. They performed their dance. The familiar battle between them always coming to the same conclusion. I bucked my hips against his inviting him to go further. His hands started roaming my body but his lips never left mine. He pulled me closer to him as he lifted my leg and began his ascent from my knee to my thigh to my intimate core.

I pulled back suddenly and saw Dimitri was startled by my reaction. I saw the world different again. I could smell his scent as well as my own arousal. I could still taste every single nuance of his tongue in my mouth. I slowly moved my fingers to my mouth. I felt the fangs.

"Oh shit. Is this going to be a thing?"

Dimitri seemed to find it more amusing then disturbing.

"I think it activates when we want to surrender to our instincts."

"Well that is just great, because I have an instinct right now, but we can't… do what we did last time."

I wasn't just referring to the sex, I was also referring to the feeding.

Dimitri sat up and sighed deeply.

"I know. It was amazing and I don't regret it. I could feel you and even the twins. It felt as I was lending you my strength, lending them the strength to grow. And I felt your strength filling me creating that circle, but it was definitely… primal."

"I know, it was amazing and I don't mind a good hard fuck from time to time, but I also love when we make sweet and gentle love to each other, but right now I know that if we continue I will give in."

There was a smile on his face.

"Oh Don't worry. I think I have a way around that. One of us just has to stay in control while the other one doesn't."

I didn't really know what he was referring to. I didn't think Dimitri would have better control than me in this case. But when he moved down and placed his head instead of his cock between my legs I understood.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

RPOV

We settled in after that. I noticed I wasn't having much trouble with morning sickness as long as I ate on time and didn't sit in the car for too long. Driving was definitely a trigger. We were training and we could even use some of our strength and speed in a fight now. Not that Dimitri and I were doing much fighting. It didn't matter I was a highly trained warrior. Now that I was pregnant it meant everyone, including Dimitri was treating me like I was made out of glass, no matter how much I convinced them that I was not only highly trained but had Strigoi strength and endurance and the twins did too. They just said to take it easy. I had made it clear to Dimitri I wasn't going to sit around and do nothing, which he accepted but still I knew he was being extra careful with sparring and it now only took up a fraction of our training instead of the large portion it normally did.

But we were feeling more like ourselves each day even if we became more aware of Strigoi like attributes.

It was lunch time and we walked in from the yard after a long run. Well jog, because apparently having a high heart rate is not good for the baby's even if exercise was.

"That smells good."

Olena's cooking was always spot on but I could see disappointment cross Dimitri's face as he looked over all the food Olena had made.

"You didn't make blackbread?"

He asked his mother almost pleading and pouting as if he was five. It was adorable.

"No Dimka. I made a lot of other stuff that you like. I didn't make blackbread."

"I love blackbread, can't you make it?"

There was a weird look on Olena's face. Her eyes glazed over and she stiffened.

"Of course, you love blackbread, I'll make it."

Her voice was void of anything. A rehearsed response mimicking Dimitri.

He looked over at me shocked.

"Did I just…"

"yeah, I think you did."

He just compelled his mother to make him blackbread without even realizing it. I hadn't seen his eyes turn red so it must be something he could do without transforming.

"How do I undo it?"

She was already going into the kitchen trying to find the ingredients.

"Mama, you don't have to make me blackbread."

"Of course I do, you love blackbread."

Damn. Viktoria walked in and looked at the two of us shocked.

"What happened?"

"Your brother compelled your mother to make blackbread."

Dimitri didn't seem to appreciate my candor.

"I didn't do it on purpose."

He grumbled.

"So undo it."

"I can't. I don't know how."

Viktoria just shrugged.

"She will stop once the task is complete. At least you didn't compel her to jump of a cliff."

With that she just left the room and left behind a very furious and a little ashamed looking Dimitri.

Olena did eventually stop after she made the blackbread and once she was done she came over to Dimitri and slapped him on his chest. Without a word she went back into the kitchen to do something else.

I heard Dimitri give a sigh of relief. Another thing we had to get control over. I had a bit of experience with watching and feeling Lissa compelling people so I was wondering if I could do any better.

"Vika. Come in here. I need a Guiney pig."

She reluctantly poked her head around the corner of the room.

"you need me to do what now?"

"We need to control this. So I need to practice compulsion on someone. I am happy you volunteered."

I heard Dimitri chuckle a little bit and Viktoria groan. This was going to be fun.

She sat across from me on the couch.

She looked me straight in the eye. I had to give her credit. She trusted me completely. It isn't every day you tell somebody you want to compel them and they just sit there and let you.

"Vika. I want you to blink twice."

She raised her eyebrow and a small smile came across her face. Okay so not working yet.

I remember how Lissa used to compel people. How it felt. You don't just reach out towards the other mind. You also have to give a little of yourself. Sending out your thoughts to them and pushing back their own barriers.

"Vika, Blink twice."

She blinked twice.

"Wow."

Dimitri was looking at us with interest. I don't know how much he used compulsion when he was a Strigoi. He had his natural scary demeanor to get people to do what he wanted.

"See if you can undo your own compulsion now. I couldn't do it with mama yet."

I nodded.

I turned to Viktoria again.

"Ready for another round?"

She nodded.

I thought a moment about what I wanted her to do that was easily done but also if I failed to uncompel her would run itself out, just like with Olena.

I gathered the thought and forcibly pushed it into her mind.

"Vika. Read the magazine cover to cover."

She picked up the magazine and started reading. I took a deep breath and again I summoned the thought, but this time I made her stop reading.

She put the magazine down and just stared at me.

"Rose, when are you starting?"

I smiled. This time she didn't even realized she was being compelled. The action completely separate from her conscious mind.

"already done."

After three weeks we were ready to depart back to court. Lissa had become whiny. Adrian and Sydney had remained silent on our resent transformation and Lissa said we had had enough vacation. Little did she know we were training to not go all ape-shit and bloodlust crazy when we returned. Although I was happy to notice that even if we did get hungry, our hungers were solely focused on Strigoi and not on any other creature. It made sense because only they could provide us with the power we lost during training.

So we were on the road back to the airport and my man was gloomy. It had been a while since we had spent so much time with his family and he was missing it. He was actually grumpy this morning because he had to leave his home. And even if he thought of our apartment in the palace as home too. This would always be home to him.

And of course it was a bitter sweet moment saying goodbye to Yeva. She was over ninety and although the old bat would probably outlive us all, just because she refused to die, we knew reality was different. Eventually she would have to pass on. She assured Dimitri every time he left, it wasn't her time yet. I noticed this time she didn't. But she mad the joke to me a day earlier that death wouldn't take her because the grim reaper was afraid of her and was staying away from her.

But I had seen a knowing look in her eyes. Somehow when she learned I was pregnant it had started. I wondered if she would last another seven and a half months. I mean it was anybody's guess. She wasn't sick or anything. And I hoped to god she wouldn't get sick. Seeing such a strong woman be torn by disease until it swallowed her would be hard. I preferred the phone call from Olena where she said she died peacefully in her sleep.

I was jostled out of my thoughts by the bumps in the road. I didn't have much in the way of morning sickness but Olena said I could still get it. Yeah great. But whenever we were in transit I would get nauseous. It was in no way a reflection on Dimitri's driving style but more the twins deciding to scramble my insides. I had packed some crackers. As long as I was eating I was okay but damn this would be a long few hours.

I was glad when the car stopped at the airport. It had been close a number of times and I saw pity in Dimitri's eyes. But there was nothing he could do. Short of carrying the twins himself. I know due to the tattoo we had gone through some changes but I doubt that had been one of them. Although I wondered if we did that feeding circle he could take some of the nausea into himself.

But when we entered the airport the nausea had subsided long enough for me to appreciate I would only have an hour or so before we were in a moving vehicle again. A much larger one this time.

As if reading my thoughts, Dimitri grabbed my hands and squeezed it a little.

I was actually able to sleep a bit on the plain. At least when I was asleep I wouldn't feel the nausea. When we exited the plain I practically kissed the ground. There was a car waiting for us at the airport to drive us the last hour to court. I groaned. God I hoped I wouldn't have to travel that much now that Lissa was staying at court and me by her side.

We drove across the ward line and into the garage. We were met at the gate but no credentials were necessary. Everyone knew who we were.

"Welcome back to court."

I swear he was a little star struck. Garage security was as menial a job as any and our job was probably the most coveted in the guardian world. Maybe except head guardian. We still had to answer to Hans. Well he liked to think so anyway.

Dimitri have him a mere nod and I was looking a little green and couldn't speak. If I did I am sure I would lose the small amount of food I had eaten today. He seemed thoroughly disappointed.

Dimitri parked the car. In motion it was hard but the moment he stood still something happened. For a moment I hoped the nausea would go away, there was this brief moment of relief before I opened the door, hurriedly climbed out and hurled on the concrete pavement of the garage. Dimitri made his way over there and I saw there was concern on his face but also a little bit of amusement. I knew what he was thinking. So close. We actually had stopped and we were so close, but still my body had protested.

"your fault."

I told Dimitri with a small smile on my face as he handed me a bit of water.

"I know, I know, I did this to you. You were in no way responsible or consented or enjoyed it."

I smiled. This had been a bit of a thing between us. Now that I was pregnant I could bash him all I wanted and blame him for everything. A few days ago I blamed him for the lack of warm water. There was a leak in the water pipe on the mainstreet, so nothing Dimitri could have done to prevent it of fix it, but still I blamed him, because being pregnant meant I could get away with anything. And for the next few months I was going to enjoy it. It is one perk while being pregnant and I was going to milk it till the last drop.

"No, you stopped the car too abruptly."

"Oh, well that you can blame me for. Sorry."

I smiled and handed Dimitri the bottle of water back.

"I do actually feel better now."

We left the poor guy to clean up the mess. Well he'll probably just hose the pavement down.

We arrived back at the palace and a screaming Lissa came our way. She was nearing the end of the first trimester and I knew she was being anxious because she would need to tell people soon. She had a scan tomorrow and when that went well she would announce to the world there would be a prince or princess on the way.

"Where have you been. You were supposed to be back two weeks ago. I know you needed time with your family, but I needed you too. I have to make a speech and everything how I announce our child."

I saw Dimitri actually wince from the high tones in her voice. I am glad there were no pets around because they would have yelped at the high frequency or her voice.

Here is the thing though, I can pull the 'But I am pregnant' whine crap with everybody except Lissa, because she was pregnant too. Now you would think that two babies would trump one baby but in this case queen trumped guardian. And I am not talking about monarch queen but drama queen.

"We had some things to sort out, before we went back. Besides you know Yeva is getting old, we had a hard time leaving her knowing it might be the last time. I hope she will make it to the twins birth but if she doesn't I want to spend as much time with her as possible."

Lissa looked guilty. Oh I knew how to play her like a fiddle. Not that it wasn't a little bit true, but it certainly wasn't the only reason we stayed. But Dimitri and I had discussed it, and we would wait with dropping the 'oh hey, your primary guardians are now part Strigoi' thing till after she made the announcement.

"Well I am just glad you two are back and so is Christian. It would be nice for him to talk to someone who is becoming a father too. I think he is freaking out a little."

She said it looking at Dimitri. Dimitri hadn't freaked out yet. I had a little but I assume that would come a little later. It was still all so surreal. We hadn't seen our children yet. And I had a hard time believing I had two living things inside of me that had heart beats and everything.

"Have you scheduled your appointment yet Rose, you're coming up eight weeks right?"

I nodded. I was still confused about the counting. It wasn't nine months as I had always thought, it was forty weeks two of which you get for free. So even if we had conceived about five weeks ago it meant I was actually seven weeks pregnant by doctor's count. I could get a scan to check the heartbeats between now and a week.

"I haven't scheduled it yet. I am a little afraid. I mean I don't know how to call the office and schedule it without the rumor mill working its rounds."

"you can come with me tomorrow, we'll do it then. Dimitri and you can come as our guardians and we'll check you out."

I looked over to Dimitri and he had a smile on his face. This would be the first time we saw our children.

"We would like that."

In Baia we had discussed how we were going to communicate this. We had talked to Adrian and Sydney on numerous occasions. We had decided that we would only tell a select few the truth and the rest we would tell them I got pregnant a week earlier. After our mission ended we had made detour to the fertility clinic with Adrian's swimmers and it was a go the first time. There was a week between which wasn't much in the long run but would still be noticeable on the scan now. Damn high tech equipment. But time of conception and time of actually having the sexual act didn't need to be at the same time. It could take as much as a few days for the sperm to reach the egg. So our theory was that Adrian's sperm was slow and hoping Dimitri's was fast leaving the discrepancy to a minimum.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

RPOV

I woke up the next morning in my own bed. I had missed it. Not that the bed in Russia wasn't comfortable but there is no place like your own bed.

"Good morning Comrade."

He grumbled something before waking up.

"Morning."

"Sleep okay?"

He nodded as he pulled me closer. He nuzzled my hair and my neck not saying anything. His hands were traveling up and down my body, swirling over my stomach down between my legs. I let out a small moan as my mouth found his and our tongues entwined. Until… there was a knock on the door.

"Rose are you up? We have to get ready."

I groaned and looked apologetically towards Dimitri.

He was counting to five. It was his turn this morning. We still hadn't been able to separate sex from transforming and one time we didn't care and just went for it anyway. It ended in broken furniture. But it had been worth it. But we still tried to keep our sexual exploits to a minimum. Which meant one of us had to stay in control. Not that we couldn't do it consecutively but with my dropping energy levels we needed to budget my energy. So it meant taking turns. It also meant that Dimitri's turn actually had been yesterday but with the traveling it didn't leave much room. But I guess he would have to wait until tonight.

I got out of bed and dressed. I saw Dimitri getting up as well and walking to the bathroom grumbling something about a cold shower as I got dressed.

I giggled a little. My poor Comrade.

We had dressed in our uniform with our telltale royal red stripe, indicating us as royal guards and were escorting Lissa and Christian to the hospital. There was a secret entrance for us, that we used whenever we needed discretion. You wouldn't believe the things they come up with when Lissa walks through the front door. People at court have such an imagination. Although most of the rumors actually said they were pregnant. And if we had walked in the front door. For once they would be right.

The doctor came in and instructed Lissa to lay down at the table and life her shirt up. Lissa normally wore dresses and skirts. A skirt would have worked here too, but I understood now why Lissa didn't pick the new dress she had lying around. She would have been in her underwear.

"Liss, do you want some privacy?"

"Oh don't be silly Rose. I want his or her god parents here."

I smiled. And then the room was filled with a heartbeat. I could see Christian stare at the screen in wonder whereas Lissa was crying at the sound of her childs heartbeat, When we had given them their moment I also took a look. I could actually see it was a baby. It had arms and legs and even the start of fingers. It was still tiny. She wasn't even showing yet, but I was surprised at how early it already looked, well human.

"Well everything looks good. Development is right on schedule and the positioning is right. We can now accurately calculate your due date and I would like to see you back here in a month time for another scan."

The doctor said.

They both nodded.

"Actually doctor I would also like you to check Rose out."

He looked at me funny and turned back to Lissa.

"For what exactly?"

She rolled her eyes.

"She is almost eight weeks. She needs a viability check."

He raised an eyebrow at us. It was widely known Dimitri and I were married, so I knew he had some reservations, but seeing as Dimitri was in the room, he assumed he was aware and at peace with how I got pregnant.

"Okay, then, Lie down if you will and expose your stomach."

I did as I was told and Christian made way for Dimitri, so he could see the monitor clearly.

I felt the gel and was surprised it was warm. In the movies the gel was always cold and they made a big deal about it. I always wondered why nobody thought of warming the gel up. Well apparently someone did.

He put the wand on my belly and the room filled with a similar swoosh as it did a moment ago with Lissa. I heard her squeak behind me. You would think she was having these babies too.

I saw Dimitri looking at the screen in wonder. I looked over there to and I could see them. I could see the difference between our children and Lissa's child developmental wise. Although ours clearly had heads, the arms and legs were only stumps. They kind of reminded me of tadpoles.

"You are aware you were having twins?"

The doctor asked and we nodded. He looked skeptical. Lissa answered for us.

"They are surrounded by spirit users, we knew before they did they were pregnant."

Not a complete lie, but not really the truth either. But the doctor seemed to take it all in stride.

"Okay so development is within range and they look good. I can tell they are fraternal twins, so not identical. Because you are carrying twins I would like to see you every two weeks for a checkup. Have you been taking any prenatal meds?"

I nodded.

That had been the first thing Dimitri did when he found out. He had taken a handful from Lissa and had bought me my own on the way to the airport. Nothing screams pregnant like your husband buying you prenatal vitamins.

"Okay then. I assume I need to handle this case which as much discretion as I do yours? Your majesty."

"For a while at least, and I will be announcing my pregnancy later today now that we have moved safely passed the first trimester mark."

"Very well. It would be best if you could escort guardian Hathaway to her next appointments then. They will believe the appointment is meant for you."

We all agreed to do that and walked out the door after Lissa and I had cleaned our bellies. We were both grinning like idiots. The men had smirks on their faces.

"Well now that we know everything is okay, I will make up the paperwork."

"Paperwork?"

"Yes of course. I want to file a formal request now, that your children will be guarding mine. When words gets out you two will be having children, so many royals will be in line to request them. Even if I have first dips, I want to beat them all. Don't worry the filing is discrete."

I had to laugh, we had almost nineteen years before they would be ready to guard anyone, but Lissa was nothing if not a planner.

Speaking of planning, we had a meeting with Hans about well a lot of stuff. Even if we didn't want the world to know we were pregnant and could transform, Hans not only deserved to know but needed to know.

I grabbed Dimitri's hand before we walked into the guardian's building. Few people at court knew we were missing, but the guardians here knew. Several had been on our rescue mission.

"Hey Rose, Dimitri, glad to see you are back from your vacation. I guess you needed some R and R right."

He wiggled his eyebrows and I laughed while Dimitri flushed.

I winked when we passed him and he smiled. We walked into the office towards the end of the hall. We were no strangers to that office. Not only do we have monthly briefings with Hans, I also get called in quite a lot because of 'certain behavior'. I swear I feel like I am going to the principal's office. But Hans and I have an understanding. He had long ago determined that beside my rambunctious nature I was also a damn good fighter, one of the bests. So he let me rain free within reason and I promised I would avoid burning down court.

We entered Hans's office and for a change he was actually happy to see us. Normally when we would walk in without an appointment he sighed deeply and rubbed the bridge of his nose. I could practically hear him thinking, what has she done now? But this time he seemed genuinely happy to see us.

"Well look what the cat dragged in. How was your vacation? I noticed you took a few extra weeks. Not that you two don't deserve it, but not usually your style."

I smiled as I sat down in one of the chairs, Dimitri sat next to me holding my hand.

"So what brings you here?"

"Well we have some things to discuss with you Hans. But I have to stress the fact that this cannot leave this room."

Dimitri was scowling. We trusted Hans, we did, but this wasn't just about us anymore, this was about the twins. Of course when he would react badly we could just compel him.

"We are pregnant with twins."

I saw Hans's eyes widen to twice their size. His mouth opened and closed a few times and he looked between me and Dimitri and back. It was quite funny.

"The official story is that I got pregnant in a fertility clinic before we returned to court after our last mission and that Adrian is the donor."

"And the unofficial story?"

"I am their father." Dimitri commented.

You could see the wheels turning in his head. He was considering all the options of how Dimitri could be the twins farther.

"Something Nathan did?"

"No, but we will get to that. It is because I am a restored Strigoi. There is spirit running through me."

He seemed to mull that over.

"So why aren't there already little terrors of yours running around."

"Hey."

He looked me over with a scowl and raised one eyebrow. Yeah my children would be terrors in his eyes.

"We used protection."

"You knew this could happen?"

"Well no, but I still was on birth control for other things."

He gaze bore into me. I had always been a good liar. Something I inherited from my father no doubt. Although I must have inherited my guardian mask from my mother. But somehow Hans has always been able to look right through me.

"Bullshit, Hathaway."

I humphed and crossed my arms over my chest.

"There may have been one other account we knew about."

"So this was planned?"

He asked a little surprised and I thought I could hear a little accusation in there too. Like he wasn't included in the decision that took his two best guardians out of commission.

"Well no. Nathan in a way was responsible. Kept us prisoner for a week. Long enough to wash the birth control out of my system, apparently."

"Well that is just, umh I mean, congratulations. I mean this is something you want?"

Dimitri squeezed my hand again and I think the sparkle in both our eyes said it all.

"It is. We just never knew how to combine it with our jobs. Having kids would mean either stopping slayer mission or risking them to be orphans."

"Yeah I suppose. That is the trade-off any guardian parent has to make. So does that mean you won't be going on slayer missions anymore?"

"No, we will go on solo missions." Dimitri said in his no-nonsense voice.

"I don't understand. Raiding on your own is even more dangerous."

"Perhaps, but necessary now. Nathan's tattoo did affect us."

Dimitri started to tell the story. What Nathan did, what happened to us in Baia. All the new abilities we got and how we had to sustain them. And how we I had to sustain the twins.

"Show me."

So I closed my eyes and saw Dimitri do the same. When we opened them, the world looked brighter and louder. I could hear Hans's heart beat increase, his breath ever so slightly labored and his hand was sliding over the ridge of his pants where I could hear the leather of his stake holder sway and part for his fingers. His first instinct as they have always been was to fight. The red eyes we were currently spotting almost a conditioned cue for action on his part. I knew that that same reaction would have saved him several times when in battle, but here in this office it wasn't necessary.

"We are in control Hans. The transformation is physical. And no matter how hungry we get we never have the need for blood of any other species. Our bloodlust isn't satiated by blood but by power. You don't need to worry."

He nodded at Dimitri's words but still repositioned himself on the chair. We both returned back to normal and even without my heightened senses I heard Hans let out a breath of relief.

"Okay, so you will need intel on Strigoi hideouts in the area around court."

We nodded.

"I won't be using much of that strength here so I won't need to feed much but Rose will because of the twins. We have timed it a bit and without accessing that power she can go about a week or two before she gets hungry."

Dimitri explained and Hans was taking all this rather well I suppose.

"You will be returning to your jobs as primary guardians to the queen and consort then?"

Consort ha, Christian was a consort. The monarch title of King only bestowed on those that were actually elected to the position, so Christian was either Lord Ozera, which would be the nice way of saying it or the queen's consort. It made him sound like a secret boyfriend instead of her husband and father of her child.

"Yeah, Lissa needs us right now, and I want to be there for her and the baby. It is kind of nice going through this together, so we wouldn't have been going on anymore slayer missions for a while anyway."

He looked at me with those wide eyes again. I realized what I said and I also realized Lissa hadn't made the announcement yet.

"Yeah, she is pregnant, a few weeks ahead of me. She will make an announcement probably today. So until then zip it okay."

Hans leaned back and had a small smile on his face.

"Well this should be interesting. Just a heads up on your end though. We have been getting requests for your services and people who have worked with you a lot lately. I can only imagine what people will do when they find out your having children. They might already start requesting them."

"Oh Lissa has already filed the paperwork for requesting the twins for her baby's protection. And she does get first dips."

He laughed.

"That is the first time in our history I have ever seen unborn children be requested. Sometimes guardians who show great promise are requested as early teens, but unborn children are a new angle. But I am not surprised. You two are legends, and I think with recent developments that reputation will only grow."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

DPOV

We made it just in time back to our apartments before the rush of people and reporters and crazy stuff happened. Lissa had wisely announced her pregnancy in writing and now everyone was going crazy with wanting to know the details, asking about the baby, how she was doing etc. The guardians at the door were being overrun with gifts for the little one as everyone wanted to let our queen know how happy they were for her and Christian.

The thing was I knew some of them just came and brought gifts to get in Lissa's good graces. Most of the royals who had come and wanted to speak to her or leave their signed gifts were in that category. Some others were genuinely happy with a new prince or princess not just because it was always a good thing when people could swoon over babies but also because for a long time Lissa had been the last of the Dragomirs. It had gotten a little better with the addition of Jill, but some didn't consider Jill a true Dragomir because she was born out of wedlock and because she wasn't in the picture much. The arrival of a new Dragomir was evidence that our society was rebuilding. The near-extinctions of the Dragomir's had been a grim reminder for all of us that life was fragile and that even Royal families weren't immune to the dangers of this world. In many ways the near-extinction of a Royal line had fueled a lot of the fear at court. It didn't matter that the last few were killed in a car accident. Most of them had been targeted by Strigoi over the centuries to the point that only one family remained.

So good cheers all around.

I wondered what would happen if we announced our pregnancy. I mean we wouldn't be releasing a written statement but word will get around fast that Rose is pregnant. Beside some rumors that will be circulating I also wondered how many gifts we would be getting. Not just from royals trying to request our children but also guardians who would be eager to take our place on team Alpha.

The next morning things had settled down a little. The joined living room was loaded with gift and sorted in two piles. A pile to keep which was relatively small and a pile to donate. Lissa had written down the names of the people who had brought them gifts and was now making thank you cards.

I was sitting next to Christian who was reading a book. A pregnancy book. He had a weird look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

He actually looked a little pale now.

"They say labor can last up to 48 hours and that a third of the women will have a rupture which needs stiches. There is even something called a complete rupture. It describes what it is and I can't even… here they have pictures."

He handed me the book and I visibly shuddered. But I knew that one or two stiches is not uncommon but this was. Also labor usually lasted an hour or ten. Usually at 48 hours the baby would be born via a c-section. But still the visual was frightening. Certainly because I knew twins could cause complications and I knew I was a big baby. If two babies that size would have to come out of Rose's small frame I wondered how much of her was left afterwards.

"I am sure Lissa will be alright, we have the best doctors here. Plus this is a human book, Moroi children are usually smaller and leaner so Lissa shouldn't have much trouble."

He nodded.

"Why don't we start with some earlier chapters huh. We have another six months to figure _that_ out."

Christian nodded and flipped to the pages at the front of the book that talked about the pregnancy at this stage.

"Second trimester, okay… oh well that isn't bad. Less nauseous and less tired and the baby bumb is relatively small and oh, increased sex drive due to hormones and increased blood supply… nice."

"Keep reading."

"Oh, it could also have the opposite effect. Well I will just hope for the first one."

He smirked at me. Yeah me too, me too.

He put the pregnancy book down and picked up a baby book.

"You really are taking this seriously aren't you?"

"yeah, Lissa broke down the other day saying she didn't have time to do all this because she is so busy with being queen and that she will be a horrible mother because she doesn't know any of the stuff. Eventually I had to promise to do all the legwork and make notes and everything, so at least one of us knows what we are doing."

I had to laugh about that. Lissa trying to micro-manage everything.

"Well I know a little about the birth from my sisters. It is good to be prepared and know what to expect, but as a parent you mostly just wing it. Of course you have to know it isn't okay to give a baby dr. pepper and that you have to support the head the first few weeks. But most of it is common sense and just seeing what works."

"Hey I am all for it, but I can't tell Lissa that, she will worry even more if there is nothing she can prepare for, so I am reading pregnancy and baby books."

I smiled. I think it should be in there somewhere to bend to the will of the pregnant woman, makes your life a lot easier.

I started reading alongside of him. I was more interested in the development of the babies after they were born. I needed to know what was natural and what was… not.

We read a passage of how babies first have to be able to lift their heads and have enough muscle control to be able to lie on their stomach and keep their heads up. That after a few weeks they start laughing and expressing emotions other than hungry. Than that they roll over and start crawling.

The girls walked in and were staring at us. I looked over at Christian and I imagined we did look really funny. We were both hanging over the book our heads almost touching pointing things out. With the intensity we were looking at it, you would think it was the playboy.

Lissa awed and Rose had a smile on her face. Well they weren't the only ones who were preparing to be parents.

The next few days passed quietly. The stream of presents seemed to have slowed down and court was beginning to get back to normal. There had been banners everywhere congratulating Lissa and Christian. Many businesses took the opportunity to market this and came up with crazy ideas to sell their stuff. Rose particularly liked the baby cupcakes the bakery made.

Maybe it was the craziness around court. Maybe it was because for the first time in a few months Rose and I had limited duties which mostly consisted of guarding council meetings and making rosters. I was getting restless.

Now the feeling wasn't anything new. I was a physical person and I needed the training to stay sane. If I was off duty long enough I would get antsy. But this was different. Or maybe just a stronger feeling. I felt like a caged animal. I could practically see the trenches I had walked in the ground passing. I felt like I had to restrain myself to do anything. Yesterday I didn't just break a jar trying to open it. I broke the entire counter. I knew Rose was feeling similar. She has always had a wild streak reminding me much of a cat that you just couldn't keep indoors. There was a need for the freedom in her eyes and I started to notice it got stronger every day. I felt the same need reflected in me.

For the past few years we had been in a constant form of alertness. We were either guarding our charges which spend a lot of time those days outside of the wards or we went on slayer missions. I didn't know if this feeling had to do with our recent alterations of if this has always been the case but now we feel it more because it has been forever since we had any time off or taken it slow. I knew one thing though, we needed to either get this under control or needed an outlet. Or we would go crazy and destroy more than a jar.

Rose walked in in her training gear and threw me mine.

"We are going to the gym. I booked a private room."

I smiled. She had been thinking the same thing. An outlet it is. I knew I had to be a bit more careful now that she is pregnant but Rose would still be Rose and as long as I didn't kick her point blank in the stomach she and the twins would be fine. I wondered if the twins would heal as fast as we do now? Not that I was taking any chances.

We greeted several guardians on our way to the private room. We had learned a while back it was easier for us to just take a private room instead of sparring in the main hall. It meant a lot of staring and challenging. People wanted to fight us a lot. We had a small tournament here once and of course it was us in the final. To many people had challenged us that day and since then the steady stream of challengers had died down a bit.

I plunked the gym bag in the corner and Rose installed the ipod. She loved working with music and I didn't mind. Today she had picked instrumental only. It sounded a bit like African music. Somehow it was perfect for our mood. The deep base from the drums resonating with my heartbeat. Something primal was being called forth by the music and by our activities. When Rose turned around she had red rimmed eyes and I knew if I looked in a mirror I would too. It had taken me a while to accept the way we looked now. I had cringed every time I saw her more Strigoi-like, but now I think it suited her. I think there was a difference between the soulless eyes of a Strigoi and Rose's eyes which burned with fire and were only being enhanced by the red. And the fangs were hot.

We normally would start out slow and circle each other but now we just dove into it. Normally we would have to stretch and warm-up but any damage to our muscles was immediately repaired so there was no need. It seemed are bodies were in a perpetual state of action all the time and it was good to release some of it. Blow after blow I felt the tension leave me and being replaced with an almost serene feeling. The music in the background, the sound and rhythm of our fist colliding, the steady increase of our breathing. We were in our own little world.

I hit her in the face and broke her lip but it healed instantly. She retaliated with a swipe at my side and I felt the bones break, but a moment later they were snapped back together. I knew we had to conserve our energy or we would have to feed again. But Rose had compared it to spirit magic. You can't use too much or you will go insane, but not using it at all isn't an option either, because it would bottle up and drive you crazy none-the less. And she had been right. Even if the broken ribs hurt like hell I could feel myself calming down when some of that energy was being expended.

We were in the home stretch now. We were going for the kill shots (well fake stake shots anyway) moving faster, punching harder. I didn't even feel the pain anymore, all I could feel was a sense of euphoria. The smile on Rose's face told me she was in a similar state of mind. She kicked, I blocked. I lunched, she evaded. She turned around on me with a speed even I couldn't follow and I felt myself lose balance and hit the ground. She was straddling me and placing her hands on my chest.

"Dead."

Her voice was barely a whisper from the exertion. Somehow the fact we could still get breathless from training felt strangely human. Rose's cheeks were flushed and I couldn't help but lower my eyes to her ampule bosom, rising and falling in rapid succession due to her labored breathing.

I was concentrating on a gash on her head which was healing in front of me. It was somehow fascinating and the little droplet of blood which escaped the gash once it was healed now held my attention. Every fiber in my being wanted to lick it off of her. However, that thought was interrupted by a large scream coming from the door.

I could only imagine what the guardian had seen. I was also surprised at the girly scream from the burly guardian. But maybe we were hearing it different because we were still in super sense mode. It also meant I now had a constant ringing in my ear from the loud scream. I saw Rose flinch and cover her ears.

After the guardian had fled we got up and surveilled the room. I hadn't noticed we had trashed the place but we had. Now it wasn't uncommon for us to break something, but this was different. Everything that had come into our path had been destroyed.

It took the guardians about a minute to organize themselves after the initial scream. Rose and I had returned back to normal and there was no sign of Strigoi attributes left. But I know we wouldn't be able to convince the guardian he didn't see it. Maybe we could compel him?

When about a dozen or so guardians were in the doorway stakes at the ready, I knew we were in trouble.

"Guardian Belikov, Hathaway? What happened? What is going on?"

They seemed confused. Yes they saw the destroyed room. It was definitely more than usual but I saw some of them shrug.

"I saw their red eyes, I did. I saw the cut on her forehead heal up. See there is still a bit of blood left where the wound used to be."

Rose wiped the drop of blood that had held my fascination off of her forehead. I suppose I would have to lick her fingers to get to it now.

Both Rose and I sighed deeply. I didn't know how to handle this.

"Rose, Dimitri, come to the large gym, everyone else stand down and follow."

I saw Hans in the back and I saw he wasn't amused.

When we were all sitting down he looked at us like we were two naughty school children. Ohh there is a thought for role playing. Rose in a sexy catholic schoolgirl costume. I cleared my throat hoping to clear my mind of the images, but now that our battle urges have been satiated I was now feeling other urges bubbling to the surface.

Hans set across from us and took a deep breath.

"I expected a bit more discretion from the two of you on this. I knew it couldn't stay hidden forever but a week? I have been trying to work out how to do this, but I suppose starting here is as good a place as any."

He turned to the other guardians. It hadn't escaped my notice that the guardian who saw us was sitting furthest away from us. Coward.

Hans explained to them what had happened to us. Well the short version without too much detail. They all just starred at us.

"Like they needed to get stronger."

There was a bitterness in the guardians voice I didn't like. Yeah I knew we were the best and I knew although most people respected us that there were some who were jealous.

So I stood up to my full height, towering over the guardian who looked visibly scared. I didn't need any Strigoi power to make him squirm.

"We didn't ask for this. We were forced. Held captive, strapped down and forced. It is a miracle we survived."

He looked away from me, a clear sign of submission. Also a sign of resentment. I knew most people would judge us with fear from now on. No longer seeing us as guardians like themselves fighting the good fight, but I never thought I would see people being envious of the power we held. Yeah it had advantages, but some powers aren't worth the sacrifice. It may not have taken our souls, but it definitely took a piece of our humanity.

"I know the circumstances were less than ideal. But obviously it did work. I am not taking it lightly but this could mean we could be fighting Strigoi on their own turf, this could change the outcome of the war."

I knew he meant no disrespect. And he was right, having Strigoi speed and strength combined with the rigorous training regime of a guardian meant we would have the advantage. Most Strigoi were ex-Moroi or ex-human, since both are more susceptible to the lure of eternal life. Most guardians that were turned were turned by force. But it wouldn't work, not only because any subjects other than us would die, but I suspect many would succumb to the power. It is hard staying grounded when you have the power of a God. And combine that with the intensifying need to fulfill instincts on a large scale you have a disaster. Having a soul doesn't mean you will use it. Rose and I both have experiences with darkness and I feel we can create a good middle ground. Not everyone here will be able to do the same, if they survived in the first place.

"Nathan tried it out on dozens of guardians before us and they died or were turned. We only survived because I am a restored Strigoi and because Rose was shadow-kissed."

Okay a little fib at the end but I wasn't going to tell them she was pregnant and I certainly wasn't going to tell them I was the father.

"But they have been working on a vaccine right, which makes us all resistant to turning. If we could combine that with that tattoo…"

"It wouldn't work. One because the vaccine is years if not decades away from being completed and because the knowledge of how to do these tattoos is not in our possession. And I doubt the alchemist will want to corporate with us."

"So you don't want to share your power, big shock."

The guy from earlier responded. I was about to respond when Rose stood up and walked over to him, a sweet smile on her face. To sweet.

"Of course we want to share our power. Like we always have. We will go out slaying on our own as to not endanger any more lives than we have to. We will still protect our monarch, we will sacrifice every part of our life for the greater cause, like we have always done, so you can sit back on your ass and be safe and sound on ward patrol duty. There is a reason we are as good as we are. Because we train, we fight, we die for the cause. In case you have forgotten I have died twice and Dimitri once. And what Nathan did to us should have killed us too. So don't come in here and tell us we don't want to share. We have given everything we are to the cause. What have you given?"

With that she got up and walked away. I followed her signaling to Hans he had to care of it from now on. I am sure there would be rumors going around court tomorrow.

"We had better get home to Lissa and Christian and tell them the extend of what Nathan did to us, before they hear it from someone else. Like guardian asswipe over there."

I nodded. Yeah we had put it off long enough. I think we both just wanted to feel normal and holding off on telling Lissa and Christian meant we could still pretend we were still the same. Even if we weren't evil and running around draining people, today made it very clear we changed. It also made it very clear we were alone. I had never been more grateful that we were having twins. They would have each other if for some reason we wouldn't be around anymore.

That afternoon there was a lot of questions back and forth from Lissa and Christina. Lissa actually cried when Rose showed her her eyes. Rose was trying to convince Lissa she was still the same. Trying to convince herself too. And of course we still were Rose and Dimitri, just slightly altered. It is strange feeling like yourself but not yourself. It was different from the Strigoi version of myself, even if there I also retained some of my personality traits. As a Strigoi I also gained some. The need for violence and cruelty was one of them. Now I didn't feel like I wasn't myself, I just felt less in control, more animal. Like the layer of humanity that has evolved over the past few eons was peeled away leaving only raw instinct. Those instincts were my own, just usually better hidden. I was glad Rose was feeling the same thing. Although truth be told, she was always more in tuned to her instincts. Not only acting rash but also following her gut feeling instead of overanalyzing everything. I had been stuffing all those things down for years under layers of control. For the first time since seeing my father here I was happy about his appearance. It did mean I could let go of the fear I would turn into him. It meant I could let lose the controls just a little bit to be not driven insane by my new found predator side.

Rose laid down next to me that evening. Usually she would snuggle up to me but now she just moved parallel to me and joined me at staring at the ceiling.

"We will need to feed soon."

I knew she was right. She was making small circles over her still very flat stomach.

"I know. How are you holing up, the twins take extra energy."

She shrugged.

"I am fine. They are still small so most of the energy I spend in today's session, but it is like an ever steady hum and I do feel it building. I just hope it won't get much worse when the pregnancy progresses."

I squeezed her hands.

"I'll ask Hans in the morning for possible Strigoi nests in the area. There usually are a few around court. Strigoi arrogance and all."

She nodded before she scooted over to me and snuggled up to me like she usually did. We fell asleep and even though we could both feel the hunger building, we also got rid of much pent up energy which made for a very good sleep.

So we were an hour away from court a day later. There had been reports in a small town of some mysterious deaths which the alchemist had dubbed Strigoi attacks. So we were hunting. I could feel the adrenaline hone our senses and the anticipation of a kill get the juices flowing. Somehow we could sense our prey now. Not in the shadow-kiss sense where Rose would get nauseous, but more in a compass way. A draw towards the carnage and cruelty they seemed to ooze.

Two of them were hauled up in an abandoned house in the bad part of town. It is strange that no matter how small a town is, there always seems to be a bad part of town and a good part of town.

We were stealthily moving towards the house when we heard a scream. No doubt an unwilling meal fighting against their fate. We didn't waste time and entered the building with a bang. The two Strigoi looked up and I could see some relief on the humans face. She thought she had been rescued. But when she took in our red eyes, her face fell and she fainted. Great.

"Get lost this is our meal."

Rose smiled next to me.

"We aren't here for her, we are here for you. Now let go of the human."

The Strigoi looked confused but he seemed to obey her. He was looking down at his hand as it was releasing the human. The look of fear and confusion on his face told me the action wasn't taken freely.

"Rose did you just…"

She looked at me a bit confused as well and back at the Strigoi.

"I don't know, maybe."

She turned back to the Strigoi and issued another command.

"Dance like a chicken."

I had to chuckle at that one, although if he did, we would know for certain he was indeed compelled. I heard the Strigoi growl and hiss but he did dance like a chicken. Rose started laughing and the other Strigoi was utterly confused and seemed nailed to the spot.

It seemed compulsion on a Strigoi was different. Their minds couldn't be compelled. When Rose compelled Viktoria she didn't even seem to know what she had done. Here they knew what they were doing and weren't very keen on doing it, they just had to. We could compel Strigoi's bodies.

"That… is kind of cool." Rose said as she pointed towards the Strigoi.

Well that was one way of putting it.

It took the Strigoi a few moments to snap out of it. Okay so the compulsion doesn't last long, but still good to know.

Rose engaged the Strigoi she just compelled while I went after the other. I decided to try out this new found power a bit.

"Stay."

The Strigoi gritted his teeth but stopped dead in his tracks. I walked around him and I could have drank from him then but I wanted more of a thrill. The predator in me wasn't satiated yet. I needed a chase. I haven't felt that inhuman in a while but the need was there and better to let it loose on a Strigoi than anybody else. I saw Rose have a similar reaction. She was toying with him, like a cat would toy with a mouse, the terrified pleas from him, egging her on.

I waited until the compulsion wore off, the entire time staring him in the eyes. All he could do was stand there and wait and imagine what I would do to him. The moment he could move again he sprinted towards the door, but I was there faster and slammed his head into the door. The scent of his blood filling the air and driving me further. I grabbed him by the neck and threw him through the wall. He was on the floor trying to flee from me. He was crawling on his hands and knees desperate to get away from me. I saw I had broken an arm and saw it now popping back into place. I leisurely walked towards him and picked him up and held him against a wall I hadn't destroyed yet. My fangs elongated and the fear was evident in his eyes.

"What are you?"

I didn't miss the trembling in his voice. Although I got a certain satisfaction from the irony of the situation where he was now as afraid as his own prey had been a few moments ago, I knew there was still a large difference between me and him. I didn't enjoy this, I would put him out of his misery instead of maintaining this cruelty. The feeling was different from my Strigoi days. I felt more like a cat chasing after a toy because it called to a certain instinct of chase inherited in all predators, there was no cruelty in our actions, only need. As a Strigoi I relished not only in the kill but the moments before where my prey was absolutely terrified. It filled a need for cruelty and came with its own high, but I didn't feel that here. A sign we may have turned into predators but we didn't become monsters.

It was a comforting thought as I sank my teeth in his neck and drained him. When I turn back around I saw Rose was done with hers as well. A small trickle of blood had escaped her mouth and was on the corner of her lips. I closed the distance between us and very carefully licked it off. She shuttered.

"Comrade, if you are going to continue it means we would destroy this place in our actions and we have a human to take care off."

I knew she was right so I pulled back and adjusted my pants to accommodate my erection. I had smelled Rose's arousal a moment ago and I knew that after we had dropped of the human with some alchemist we would have to find some release somewhere. Even if it did mean destroying a room or two and feeding from each other again.

Rose walked over to the unconscious woman and gently nudged her to wake her up. She was startled and immediately retreated against the wall when she saw us.

"It's okay, you're safe now, we aren't going to hurt you. We are getting you some help."

She seemed weary but Rose's words seemed to calm her down even if just a little. I took my phone and called the local alchemist. They would take care of her.

We stayed with her until the alchemists arrived. She was still as far away from us as she could get but she seemed to relax a bit after a few minutes since we hadn't killed or hurt her yet.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

RPOV

Lissa was due any day now. It had taken a whole month for the excitement from their announcement to die down. But it was picking up again now that she was closer to her due date. Of course our own announcement had meant the craziness lingered. Well we didn't exactly announce it the way Lissa and Christian did, but word got around fast none the less. Some people outraged, some people over the moon and most people just happy for us and congratulating us. We had gotten into a comfortable rhythm for a while. We would train, we would guard and we would hunt. But I wasn't able to do that anymore. The more my own pregnancy progressed the more I had to stop doing. We would still train but I had been on maternity leave for a while now. After I hadn't been able to stand for long periods of time anymore I was put on desk duty. A fact many of our fellow royal guardians took advantage by letting me handle their paperwork. But now even sitting in a chair for eight hours a day was not doable anymore. I had stopped hunting a while ago too. We had learned that even if the Strigoi blood needed to be fresh it didn't have to come straight from the source. So Dimitri would hunt and bring back some for me. It was good to know because I assume we had to do the same with the twins. But even if I was now almost wider than I was tall, and was carrying twins I was still better off than Lissa. Or maybe she just complained more.

I mean I literally get my ribs broken sometimes. The twins are strong and even though my newly found Strigoi attributes can take care of that in seconds, it still hurts. When I pointed that out to Lissa she simply said I was lucky because she had to endure the kicking and bruises without getting healed. Of course Lissa's were the normal kind of bruises. The bruises everyone has. Mine, you could see on the outside.

I think everybody would have a sense of relief once the baby was born. Although when I told everybody it could take up the nine months for the pregnancy hormones to leave her system and certainly the first few weeks after the baby was born the hormones would be skyrocketing, they paled visibly. Normal Lissa was a pain to deal with, pregnant Lissa was hard but hormonal Mom Lissa would be disastrous. Normally people would rely on me to calm her down and make sure she was manageable. But I wasn't very stable myself these days, so it meant Lissa had pretty much lost all her marbles.

I had drawn the line at the birthing class last month. Christian and Dimitri would usually join us but this time they had other things to take care of. I swear they made it up so they didn't have to go. Lissa and I went, but when we had to do the exercises she had wanted me to massage her back while sitting on my knees because and I quote 'She was further along and I had no idea how much her back hurt'. I swear the teacher was about to impeach her crown right there. I couldn't even have done it if I wanted to. I could no longer get on my knees. Hell I couldn't even see my knees anymore. It was embarrassing how much Dimitri had to for me. Now everybody knows about the movies where the man has to tie her shoes, I was prepared for that, but everything from the waist down he had to do. Including clipping my toe nails to shaving my legs. Now I had gotten a little negligent there, but I refused to look like bigfoot when I went into labor so it meant my hubbie had to suck it up and shave my legs.

Currently Lissa and I were sitting on the couch in our joined living room like two big whales. We were watching a movie. It was a comedy. We had learned early on that any sappy movie was out of the question. It would result in us being two blubbering pregnant women.

We were almost at the end of the movie. I had seen Lissa shift on the couch more than usual. But it was to be expected. No couch or chair or bed was comfortable for long. When the movie was over, we got up. The sight would have left everyone rolling around on the ground laughing. But when Lissa got up I saw her winch.

"Lissa, you okay?"

"yeah I am fine. Just a cramps or something. It has been bothering me the entire movie."

I slapped my forehead. We had taken classes for this, and she didn't recognize she had gone into pre-labor.

"How often do you have these 'cramps'?"

She shrugged.

"Okay from now on we are going to time them."

I got out my phone and we went and started another movie. Still irregular and at least ten minutes apart. So nothing to worry about yet. It could be hours from now or even days. But I did text Christian and Dimitri that a storm was brewing.

After the movie, we went to the kitchen to have some herbal tea and some cookies. She was taking this rather well. I could see the occasional cringe but the time in between meant she could recover. Also these contractions weren't really bad yet. After her water would break then it would get fun.

We were sitting at the table when Christian barged in. His face was red and he was out of breath. He practically stumbled in the door.

"Is it happening? Am I on time? Is everything okay?"

Lissa shot me annoyed look but walked over to her husband none the less.

"I am having contractions but we are still in the pre-labor part. It could be today but it could also die down again. We have called the doctor, she will be here to examine me in an hour."

"An hour? That is ridiculous. You are the queen and you in labor. She needs to get here ASAP."

I shared a look with Dimitri who had walked in with him. He wasn't out of breath, he looked more annoyed then anything. Dimitri nodded and put an arm on Christians shoulder.

"Why don't we see if you have packed everything to take to the hospital?"

"Oh yeah, right. What if we forget something?"

Dimitri simply steered Christian towards their bedroom and kissed me on the head as he passed me.

Well if you had asked me I would have thought Lissa would freak and Christian would remain calm. It was actually funny to see how it turned out. I wonder what Dimitri would do in a few weeks' time.

The doctor had come and left. Lissa was officially in labor. Her cervix was softening and she was two centimeters dilated. The doctor had left instructions to come to the hospital when her water would break of if her contraction were coming regularly every five minutes or less. Christian and practically cussed the doctor out but I had nodded saying I understood and would take care of it. We had learned in our class that you wanted to stay home for as long as you could. Because it meant you would be comfortable in your own home. The doctor had suggested a nice shower, some light food and some rest, seeing as this would probably be the last of it.

If Lissa progressed slowly she would check in with her again in the morning.

But it turned out not to be necessary. Lissa was four minutes apart by ten o'clock in the evening. She wanted me and Christian with her in the room so I packed up my own bag with stuff, mostly a magazine and a cushion and we were being driven by royal guardians to the hospital. Lissa came in the back entrance again. We were trying to keep a lid on it for as long as we could. Dimitri was driving. He and four guards would be stationed outside of the door. It was determined that if there was a security threat Dimitri would come in and neutralize the threat. All other royal guardians, especially the males where to be left outside. Lissa had left strict instructions. She said too many people had already seen her private parts and she didn't need to add people to that list.

Dimitri was also there in case I needed something. An extra pillow, something to eat or someone to take off my shoes.

We had settled into the room when the doctor came in and examined her again. Five centimeters. I think I heard Lissa cuss. She had been at it for a while. Granted she hadn't been in full labor until an hour ago so she was doing rather well. But Lissa had always had a low tolerance for pain.

Lissa was swaying on the end of the bed trying to handle a contraction. Christian had calmed down some now that Lissa started to lose it a bit. If her water hadn't broken in the next hour or so the doctor would break it for her so the labor would progress faster.

But as she was swaying back and forth I saw that wouldn't be a problem anymore.

"Ewh, what is that? Did I pie myself."

I rolled my eyes. Her bladder wasn't big enough to hold that much pie.

"No Liss, your water broke."

"Oh God it is really happening isn't it. In a few hours I am going to be a mom. What if I am no good at it?"

Now that Lissa was freaking out Christian had become calm itself.

"Don't worry Liss. All a baby really needs is love, and we have that covered."

"But that isn't true, a baby needs lots of things."

I saw Christian was trying really hard not to roll his eyes.

"We can ask help with all other things, the only job nobody else can do is loving that child. And I know we both already do."

He placed his hands on her belly and the little bugger kicked against his hand. Christian's face lit up as he whispered against her stomach.

"I can't wait to meet you. Just don't make it too hard on your mom on the way out okay."

Well turned out he did. Twenty minutes later Lissa was screaming for an epidural.

"You are already far along, we can discuss some other pain killers if you would like."

She had grabbed the doctors shirt and pulled it close to her.

"I am queen and I am ordering you to give me an epidural."

The doctor paled and was getting an anesthesiologist to administer the epidural.

Another half hour later, rest had returned to the room. I must admit, as I was seeing Lissa now, relaxed, was nice. I could see her contraction on the monitor but she didn't seem to feel it. She was actually reading a magazine now. Maybe I would look into an epidural. I knew there could be side effects, but there was something to be said about being refreshed about giving birth. I mean it didn't stop there. Afterwards you would have a new born on your hands. Not exactly a relaxing adventure either. And I had two of them to push out. Yeah definitely getting the epidural. Then I wondered if it would even work with the Strigoi high metabolism.

"Okay, your majesty, you are fully dilated. We will turn off the epidural so you can push."

The look of pure panic on Lissa's face was priceless.

"Turn it off? Why on earth would you turn it off?"

"Because it is easier to push if you can feel it. Then your body knows where to push to. It means the time he spends in the birth canal will be shorter, which in the end is healthier for him."

Well that would probably be the only reason she wouldn't fight this.

I saw her face contort and she let out a groan. Almost like she was going to the bathroom.

"That would be the urge to push, your majesty."

And just like that she was minutes away from giving birth. Christian moved next to her and grabbed her hand and was encouraging her while trying to keep his own excitement in check. I was on her other side.

It was another ten minutes before the cursing began. Where first only the contractions hurt, now it was the fact that she was squeezing a baby through a very small opening which was causing the pain and unlike the contractions it didn't go away after a minute.

"Almost there baby, You are doing great."

All Lissa was capable off was primal noises. She did not look attractive right now. If I was going in to labor I knew two things. I was still going to be gorgeous and there is no way in hell anyone would be taking pictures to prove otherwise.

"I see the head. One more big push."

More very unattractive noises later we heard the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. The doctor placed a very dirty baby boy on Lissa's chest. After a few cooing noices from his mother he seemed to settle down.

He was beautiful. He looked sleek and thin, but then again all Moroi did. Lissa was already looking better. No fair. She got to give birth to a Moroi baby. A lot easier than a Dhampir baby. Let alone two.

Christian seemed instantly in love. He had actual tears in her eyes. He seemed content in his mother's arms.

They took him for a moment to clean him up and to weigh him and such. In the meanwhile Lissa delivered the placenta and they cleaned her up to. Not a single stich. Freaking Moroi baby.

They brought him back wrapped in a cute blanket.

"A healthy six pounds baby boy."

She placed the baby in Lissa's arms again.

After tears from his parents and cuddles from them, Lissa handed him to me.

"You want to hold your godson?"

I nodded.

"Okey, here is Eric Lucas Dragomir."

I looked at her a bit funny. Although I liked the name, I did think it was off where it came from. Lissa seemed to sense my confusion.

"We have both had fathers that weren't perfect. But for all their faults they loved us. And this is sort of our way of forgiving them."

I held little Eric and I realized his name didn't matter. He was a perfect little boy. Lean and lanky, somehow I suspected Moroi babies to look the same as human and Dhampir babies, but his race was already showing now. Although he did have a good amount of babyfat on him, as he should.

He had black hair like his father and although his eyes were still blue I suppose it could go either way. Either Lissa's green eyes or Christian's icy blue eyes. All Caucasian babies are born with blue eyes and they eventually change color. Because of my heritage I was born with brown eyes and they stayed brown. I suppose if our children would be born with blue eyes we would know they would take after their father.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

DPOV

I didn't know how Rose did it. She was sound asleep. Eric had been home from the hospital for a day and he wasn't sleeping, his parents weren't sleeping and I certainly wasn't sleeping. I could hear him crying from our room. There were a few walls in between our room and theirs but in the silence of the night his cries were as loud as thunder.

But my sweet Roza didn't hear it. She was sound asleep, snoring a little. I was glad. Her own pregnancy was in its last stages and now she should get as much sleep as she could. Ideally so should I, but I suppose that wasn't happening.

I picked up my phone from the side table and checked the time again. Argh only ten minutes from when I last checked. Eric had settled down a bit, no doubt receiving his food. I tried to sleep a little more, but when I was up I was up. My phone went off. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was my mother. She would know better than to call in the middle of the night so I assumed she had a damn good reason.

"Hi mama , what is going on. Everything okay?"

Her voice sounded a little hoarse as if she had been crying for a while.

"No, Dimka, It's your Babushka. The doctor just came and we are in the last stretch now. Her liver is failing and her breathing is becoming more and more labored. The Doctor said a few days at best. We are keeping her here, I know she would hate dying in a hospital."

There was a lump in my throat. I knew my grandmother was over ninety and I knew every time we said goodbye it could be the last time I saw her, but some part of me actually believed her when she said Death was scared of her and she would outlive us all.

Rose had started to wake up. Frist she was moaning and groaning but when she saw my face, she sobered up pretty quickly. I put the phone on speaker.

"What do you need from us? You want us to come over?"

"Oh no honey. I couldn't ask that. Rose isn't even allowed to fly anymore."

I looked over to Rose. She was still confused.

"Besides, Yeva isn't very coherent anymore. The doctor is keeping her mostly sedated."

Realization crossed her eyes.

"We are coming Olena. We will be there as soon as we can."

And apparently soon would be right now, because she was getting dressed. She was trying to hurry but it wasn't easy with her big belly.

"I will call back later mama. Tell Babushka we love her."

I hung up the phone and walked towards my wife.

"Rose, you can't go. You are due in a few weeks."

"I know, but we can take the jet. I am sure I can talk Lissa into lending it to us."

Well that would be more comfortable and faster than an airline but it wasn't just the plane ride there or back. It meant Rose would risk giving birth in Baia. When I looked at her I saw she had come to the same conclusion. As a matter of fact I think Rose was resigning herself to give birth there.

She walked over to Lissa's and Christian's suit and knocked. Both were awake and I saw little Eric nursing happily.

Rose explained the situation and I saw Lissa's face fall. Not just because we were going there because Yeva was dying but also because it meant she wouldn't be there for Rose's birth. I actually assumed she would be too busy with Eric to attend the full session but I also knew she wanted to be one of the first to see them and hold them.

I guess that honor belonged to my family now. We wouldn't be returning with a newborn immediately either. So it would be a few weeks before Lissa would be able to see them.

But she agreed for us to take the jet none the less. Rose kissed her head and then the head of little Eric and was wobbling back to our room again and started to pack. I immediately moved her out of the way and motioned for her to sit on the bed. I would pack.

"I assume there will be enough stuff for the babes to get us through the first few weeks?"

She asked me a little hesitantly. I nodded and looked over to the room next to us. We had created a nice nursery for the twins and I was a little sad that they wouldn't be spending their first nights here, but it was only for a few weeks. Maybe if Rose was feeling up to it we could make it back here in time for the birth.

By morning I had phoned my mother, Rose's parents and the guardians overseeing the jet and had arranged everything. When we were on the plane I felt Rose relax for a bit. The last few hours had been crazy and even if I was trying my best to do everything and keep all of it away from Rose I knew she found it stressful too.

The entire trip I kept looking at Rose. She was either reading a magazine or listening to music or sleeping. But every time she moved I would jump up. One time when one of the twins had kicked I had gone into complete panic mode thinking labor had started. She had actually slapped me out of it. And went back to sleep. I was glad when we were touching down at the airfield closest to Baia. It would be another hour drive from this local airport but at least I knew if it started now then we would be home in an hour. And I doubt the labor would progress that fast.

When we finally crossed the threshold of my childhood home I felt relieved. I saw by my mother's face we had made it in time. I saw Rose being relieved too. One because Yeva was still with us and two because traveling was difficult for her now and three because I would stop fussing over her so much. Well the latter probably isn't going to happen.

We first had a cup of coffee or herbal tea in Rose's case and afterwards we went into Yeva's room. Yeva had been sleeping on the ground floor for over a decade now. It had gotten increasingly difficult for her to walk up the stairs so my mother had expanded the house so she could have a room and a bathroom on the ground floor. Yeva didn't want to admit she couldn't take the stairs anymore but had said she would accept it because it would mean she was the first to be targeted by a Strigoi and the first line of defense for the house. My mother had shaken her head and told her she could do just that. Although I had seen my grandmother in a Strigoi fight once. She was in her mid-eighties and could barely hold the stake but one look from her and the Strigoi decided the old woman wasn't worth draining and fixed his eyes on a younger victim. I think the Strigoi was scared.

But as I walked into the room I didn't see the strong woman who even in her eighties was fearless against Strigoi. I didn't see the woman who could send me to my room even when I was a foot and a half taller than her. I saw a frail old woman about to die.

Yeva had never looked her age even when you could clearly see her aging and failing body. Because her eyes had been so alive and so intense you didn't even look at her body, But now she looked every bit her age of ninety two.

She could barely open her eyes. Her body weak and unmoving. She was wearing a breathing mask hooked up to a portable oxygen tank. There was an IV drip giving her the nutrient she needed seeing as she wasn't able to eat or drink herself anymore. She had lost a bit of weight since the last time I saw her.

Rose sat down next to her on the chair and grabbed her hand. I was standing beside her.

When Rose touched her her eyes opened a bit more and I was glad to see a bit of the old Yeva spark still there. She started speaking in Russian. I think Yeva was to out of it to remember Rose only spoke a bit.

I translated for Rose as Yeva spoke.

"I am sorry, I couldn't be here for the birth of the twins. But someday you will know why. I always knew my life would end when theirs would begin."

I thought back to when Yeva heard about the twins. Although she was happy I could also see something else. Now I knew what is was. It meant time was running out for her.

"Don't worry about me, Dimka, Roza, I had a wonderful life and I am going to a better place."

Rose squeezed her hand and answered her in a bit of broken Russian.

"Well I think you are losing your touch Yeva. Death isn't afraid of you anymore."

Both women were smiling.

"I am sure the twins will love hearing stories about their fearless babushka. I know I will them that if they didn't behave your ghost will haunt them."

I could actually hear a small chuckle from the old woman followed by a coughing marathon which I thought would end her right there and then. I saw Rose wasn't keeping it dry. Tears were streaming down her face. I placed my hands on her shoulders.

It was funny, she was my grandmother, but Rose and Yeva had always had a deep connection, I think because they are a bit alike. I knew I would take her death hard but Rose would feel it more.

Yeva fell asleep after that and I moved a crying Rose to the living room.

The atmosphere of the house was gloomy. Zoya and Katya who were always playing were now almost subdued on the couch. My mother and Karolina were working silently in the kitchen as opposed to the lively chatter they normally had.

Rose looked around the room. She was always the one to break these sort of moments and it was no different now.

"Come on comrade, let's see if we can set up your room for the twins. Just in case… Come on girls, you want to help Auntie Rose with picking clothes and toys for the twins and putting it into our room?"

The girls seemed elated by that prospect. Decorating a nursery sounded like something five and six year old girls would like.

It had been a few days now. Rose was over the 37 weeks and was in the all clear. If they would be born now they wouldn't be premature anymore. Abe and Janine had come to pay their respects. The interaction between Abe and Yeva had been quite touching. A man who rivalled Yeva's reputation for scary. Yeva had always liked him and I wondered if liking Rose had been an extension of that. They had laughed about all the men and women they had threatened and Abe was boosting about that his numbers far exceeded Yeva's. when she pointed out that she only needed a look, so that she counted everyone she had ever looked at, Abe had admitted defeat.

She seemed more lively today, which I thought was a good sign but the doctor had looked at me with pity when I had mentioned it. He said people often had a small period of lucidity before they passed. He speculated it was hours now. I had texted Abe that it would probably be today. He had offered to pay for her funeral any way she wanted it and my mother had accepted gracefully. She had wanted to be buried in the backyard but apparently it was illegal and the paperwork to get it done would cost a fortune. Abe said he would take care of it.

Rose had been quiet all day. It was as if she could feel her death approaching. I saw she was sitting in the living room her eyes closed. I could tell she had transformed but didn't want to scare anyone so she closed her eyes to hide the red. I knew what she was doing, she was listening for Yeva's heartbeat. They had had a moment this morning and I knew Rose had said goodbye then. I had done the same a few minutes later. She said she was tired and went to sleep. And as I saw my wife open her eyes and saw tears fall down her face, I knew she hadn't woken up from her nap and never would again. My grandmother had passed away.

I walked over to Rose, who had transformed back and hugged her. She just cried into my chest.

My mother took one look at us and her hand went to her mouth as she slowly made her way to Yeva's bedroom. When I heard her crying I knew she confirmed what we had already known.

I called Janine and Abe who were staying close by. Abe got to work on the arrangements and I and Paul who had come home last night would help him. The women would be in the kitchen cooking up a storm. And tonight we would hold the bonfire with lots of alchohol. I had things to arrange so I left Rose with Janine. Both feeling a little lost in the movements of everyone around them. Janine didn't know what to do and Rose couldn't do anything. So they kept each other company.

The undertaker came in and started balming her. She would be kept in her room until she would be buried later tonight.

By nightfall everyone had gathered around the hole in the ground at the end of the yard under the large oak tree. We said a few words and drank a few shots. Well everyone except Rose and the kids. I wondered if fetal alcohol syndrome was relevant in a Strigoi powered pregnancy, but neither of us was willing to find out.

As they lowered her casket into the ground I knew this was it. This was the last time I would see her. Not that I was actually seeing her now, but still. I closed my eyes and listened while I transformed. I needed to make sure there wasn't a heartbeat. I had half a mind to believe she planned this and would come out of the casket and tearing us all a new one because we believed she was so easily taken by death. But there was no sound. No heartbeat, no wooshing of her blood through her veins, or the sound of her intestine working. No working of her muscles, nothing. She was gone and wat they buried in the ground was nothing more than her package. I knew she was at peace. She had told me so. She had the last laugh after all because while she was at peace, our lives would take a long while to go back to normal.

I grabbed Rose's hand and squeezed it before I took her back inside. It was getting cold and she couldn't stand on her feet to long. Everyone joined us a moment later. We were reminiscing about Yeva when I heard a groan coming from Rose as she grabbed her stomach. She was rubbing it but after a few moments the pain seemed to pass. Another few minutes the same happened and my mother looked at me and nodded. Rose was having contractions. She was in labor. How close Yeva had come to see the twins. I wish she could have hold out a little longer, but her words echoed in my ears. 'My life ends when theirs begins'.

Rose was in labor because Yeva died.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

RPOV

Son of a bitch it hurt. I had hoped that my new found Strigoi strength had come with a higher pain tolerance but that was at least not true for contractions. Son of a bitch.

My old man had called in the best doctor from a few towns over and we were moving towards the clinic. Dimitri was getting worked up again. So I asked my mother who seemed to be the most level headed at the moment to come with us. Olena was coming to, but I knew she was still grieving from the funeral but she did have a bit of experience with these things so she could come in a little if we needed her.

I was taken to a bed and in between contractions they would examine me.

"Progressing nicely. Three centimeters in two hours. If you keep this up you will two babies by the end of the night."

But we didn't have babies by the end of the night. I was actually grateful, I didn't want their birthday to coincide with Yeva's memorial day.

But I seemed to have stalled. It didn't mean it didn't hurt. In fact it hurt a lot more, but I wasn't progressing anymore. The doctor had broken my water but it didn't seem to be helping. I was getting tired. The contractions were coming in fast now and I could barely keep conscious. I felt I was spacing out between contractions. They had tried giving me and epidural but my body was metabolizing it too fast. Stupid Strigoi powers.

I felt a rush of liquid coming down my legs and I told myself it was just extra water, but why were people looking at me like that.

I saw the doctor pull Dimitri aside and his face went ashen. Not good. Really not good. A moment later he said down next to me and his eyes were full of pain and tears. I told myself it was because his grandmother had just died.

"Roza, sweetheart. We need you to help the twins, The placenta had ruptured and they aren't getting oxygen through there anymore. The doctor wanted to a C-section."

Oh not good. They didn't do C-sections lightly. But they couldn't preform one on me. I would heal to fast.

"What if I can't, what if I can't get them out?"

I saw new tears in Dimitri's eyes.

"Then all three of you could die. You could bleed out and if we can't get the twins out they will suffocate."

Panic took hold of me. I saw the same panic reflected in Dimitri's eyes.

Funny how bleeding out would probably one of the few ways we could still die. Of course the wound in the placenta was healing itself but I could feel it tear apart again with each contraction. That is why they hurt so much more. It is also why I could see the floor and the bed being soaked in blood, my blood.

"breath Roza, breath. You have to push. The doctor said you are fully dilated. You need to push."

So I did and with each contraction and each push I could feel a gush of liquid flow past my legs, with each contraction I felt myself get a bit weaker.

"That is it, Roza, you are doing it, stay with me, baby, please stay with me,"

I listened to his voice and the voice of my mother telling I was doing great. But I was losing consciousness. I didn't know what would happen but I needed more power so I transformed. I saw the doctor take a step back but not run out screaming so I am guessing someone informed him what was going on. I pushed again and I could feel a shift. And I pushed again. Even without a contraction which was a lot harder. I pushed and I pushed until I heard a cry filling the room.

"That is it Roza, oh she is beautiful. A beautiful baby girl."

The doctor told me to bear down again so I did. I didn't have it in me anymore to speak or to make any kind of noise. I didn't need to, because the most beautiful sound in the room was my son joining his sister in crying. They were out and they were fine.

Dimitri took my hand and the tears were streaming down his face. I didn't know if they were out of joy for his children, but somehow I doubted that.

"Remember Dimitri, you promised."

With those last words I passed out.

DPOV

No, I knew a lot of things, but Roza passing out and the blood still pouring out of her wasn't a good thing. The doctor tried to work as fast as he could. He needed to get the placenta out, but Rose was in no position to help. If we could get it out the wound could heal and she would be fine.

I remembered the promise I made. I wouldn't save her again with supernatural means. I would do anything in my power and the doctors power but I wouldn't save her if she couldn't be saved. I was trying very hard to keep that promise. But as I was seeing the color drain from her face and her eyes roll back inside of her head. I had a hard time doing it. My mother had called Oksana and Mark. They had been at the funeral and they could heal her. It wasn't cheating if she wasn't dead yet, right? I was trying really hard to resist the urge to call her. I had transformed myself so I could listen to her breathing and her heartbeat, both were still there.

The doctor gave a shot of something hoping it would work. He grabbed a thong like device from a sterile package and inserted it inside of her. I tried very hard not winch. If she was awake it would have probably hurt a lot. He was manually extracting the placenta. A few agonizing moments later it was out and I let out a sigh of relief. Until I saw that the trail of blood wasn't stopping. Why wasn't she healing herself. I could hear her heartbeat pick up. The sound of her blood in her veins was almost deafening. This wasn't good. Her body had to work hard to pump the remaining blood through her system. She was bleeding out. She didn't have enough strength left to heal.

I could fix that. I bit down on my wrist with my fangs and drew blood. I placed it in her mouth. If she didn't have enough strength I would give her mine.

But she didn't drink. She didn't realize her salvation was but a sip away. She was unconscious and unaware of me or my blood. I forced her mouth open and poured a bit inside. But she needed to swallow and she didn't.

A few agonizing moments passed until I could hear her heartbeat pick up. Suddenly she opened her mouth and grabbed my wrist almost painfully. She sucked and I felt her own fangs penetrate my skin. I could feel her inside of me. I felt her in my heart and in my body. We had had a taste of this when we would feed of the same person. I also remember the first time she drank from me feeling the same. But this was a whole other level. It felt like I could touch her soul and she was touching mine. We had always been one mind and one heart but now I couldn't even begin to see where one of us ended and the other one began. Our hearts started to beat in sync. A few moments after that she pulled back looking much better. But the link was still there even after she had retracted her fangs and had transformed back. I could feel her physically. I could still feel her heartbeat. It was still in sync with mine and I knew in that moment they would be for a long as we lived.

I could feel Rose's heart and therefore my heart skip a beat when the twins were brought in. They were cleaned and wrapped in the cutest pink and blue blankets.

The doctor hesitantly gave Rose the baby boy and handed me the baby girl. He seemed baffled by her recovery. I was too. A minute ago Rose wouldn't have been able to hold a feather let alone a baby.

She stared at the baby boy in her hands and then stared at the girl in mine. We tried switching but the babies immediately started to cry. We both laughed softly, a momma's boy and a daddy's girl it was.

I looked down at the baby girl. She had her eyes open and was looking straight at me. I think I now knew why Yeva had to die. As I looked into the eyes of my daughter I saw eyes belonging to someone ancient. An all knowing look she shared with Yeva. Now I am not a religious man, I don't believe in reincarnation, but I do believe a piece of Yeva's soul or at least her power had made it to my daughter. Lera was Vrăjitoare.

Abe walked in a few minutes later with Pavel. Pavel had a canteen and handed me it. I raised an eyebrow thinking it might be coffee, but when I lifted the lid I knew what it was and why Pavel looked a bit ruffled.

I gave Rose a sip of the freshly procured Strigoi blood. But when she swallowed it, she had a sour expression on her face. I took a sip and felt the strength return to me. I felt a little of my strength reach her and make her whole again. I suppose she was bonded again. To me. My strength was now flowing through her as well, connecting us at a physical level.

I wondered if we needed to give the twins a bit as well. I raised my eyebrows towards Rose and she shrugged.

"Put some in a bottle and see if they take it. Or maybe they'll take it from my milk?"

I liked that idea better. I knew the twins would have to feed regularly. Probably once every two-three weeks or so. But I would be happy if we didn't have to feed our newborns Strigoi blood.

Rose was just about to put the boy on the breast when Abe walked in. He grew beet root red and I had to chuckle. Rose didn´t seem the problem. She was covered. Mostly.

"Hey old man, want to meet your grandson?"

He fumbled a bit looking at the boy.

"Why don't I start with my granddaughter. He is… busy."

I saw Janine roll her eyes behind him.

"So who am I holding?"

"Valeryia Ivana Belikova."

"ah beautiful name. It means strong one. Did you know that my little girl. Yes you are strong already aren't you."

I don't think I would ever get the image of Abe Mazur, notorious Mob boss cooing to his granddaughter, out of my head.

"And the boy?"

"Alexander Mason Belikov."

"Ah. Good strong name. I believe it means to protect. Fitting for a child from two guardians. Do you hear that little boy. You have a name to live up to, but for now you only have to protect your sister."

He seemed to have forgotten the fact that Alexander was currently drinking from his daughter's boob. As he got close to the boy and cooed in similar as he just did with Lera.

"Comrade why don't you text Lissa and tell them we will call them later and then get your mother to look at the twins."

I nodded and did just that. I regretted texting Lissa first because she was texting back a mile a minute. Demanding pictures and asking how everything went. I turned off the sound of my phone otherwise the beeping would drive me crazy.

"Hand over the goods Abe."

My mother said as she was walking in. I suppose that was a good thing about twins. There were more to go around. Abe handed Lera to my mother and Rose handed Sasha to Janine.

"Why did you call her Lera?"

Janine asked and Olena, me and Abe smiled.

"We discussed it and we are going to go with Russian nicknames. It is natural for me and Rose thinks they are kind of cool, even if Sasha doesn't make any sense to her."

Rose shrugged.

"So Lera and Sasha. Yeah I kind of like it to. Easier to say then Alexander and Valeryia."

"Of course it is just the right amount of syllables when you are upset with them. Alexander Mason Belikov, how many times do I have to tell you to clean up your room. Valeryia Ivana Belikova, why are we being called into the principal's office _again_."

Rose said while laughing. Her mother laughing with her. I didn't have to heart to tell her that I suspected her precious baby boy would be the main trouble maker and where we would be called in for more.


	22. Chapter 22

**Wow thanks everybody for their reviews. Hit a record last chapter for this story.**

Chapter 22:

RPOV

We had been discharged the next day. Man, two babies were a lot of work, but at least at the clinic there were nurses there to help you, but at home we would have to do it all ourselves. Well of course we had Olena and two other mothers, and two very excited girls to help us. But it was different. But I think Dimitri wanted a bed he could actually fit in instead of a hospital chair.

We drove the few minutes back to Olena´s house. I think we looked kind of silly. We had two baby car seats, each holding one of them, both a bag slung over our shoulders and Abe and Pavel who had traveled with us each had something in their arms. Pavel had a bag with small stuffed animals and baby onesies and Abe had only two items in his hands. Two giants stuffed teddy bears one with a pink belly and one with a blue belly. You couldn't see his face and I doubt he could see where he was going since he kept bumping into things. I had no idea where we were going to put them.

Zoya and Katya were running up to us once they saw us and were ogling the babies.

"Oh they are so cute."

We spend the next hour being ignored as everyone who wasn't at the hospital was fussing over the babies. Funny how normally Dimitri was Olena's favorite but now she didn't even seem to notice him. I had to chuckle a bit.

Of course when they started crying they were handed off soon enough.

"Come on Roza, let's get them upstairs and fed."

We had discussed it and I wasn't confident I could nurse both kids so we decided to also use formula. I would feed one baby and Dimitri would feed the other and the next time we would switch. As long as one feed was done with either formula or breast milk the doctor said it would be fine. So I was feeding Lera and Dimitri had Sasha. It was actually the only time when Lera would accept me and vice versa with Dimitri and Sasha. All other times we would have to switch to get them settled down. Or just put them together in a crib. That would calm them down as well.

After they were fed we put the twins in their crib and laid down together on the bed. I was facing my now sleeping babes as Dimitri was spooning me from behind, but where he would usually look lovingly at me he now had a look of pure love towards his new born children.

He kissed my neck as he pulled me close against him.

"I love you. You gave me perfect children."

I smiled.

"Is that the only reason you love me?"

He smiled against my neck and kept kissing.

I moved me so I was facing him. His face suddenly serious. He traced the side of my face and ran his hand lovingly through my hair.

"I nearly lost you again."

His voice barely a whisper. I placed my hands on his chest needing the contact and needed to reassure him I was here, in his arms, in our bed.

"I am here. You saved me."

He touched his forehead to mine.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

He pulled me close and I buried my face in his neck. At first I was just feeling comfort from him. But then his scent hit me. I always liked his scent but now it was as if he was honey and pizza and all things delicious. He smelled sweet whereas before he smelled musky and manly. I felt my fangs grow and before I realized what had happened I had sunk my teeth in his neck. I heard him groan but I was overwhelmed with the feeling to notice much. It was almost orgasmic. I sucked and licked and nipped the wound at his neck. He had first groaned out of pain but now it sounded more like he was enjoying himself.

"Roza."

I pulled him close and flipped him on his back. I kept my fangs securely attached to his neck. I straddled him as I was keeping him down.

"Roza."

His voice sounded more urgent and the sexual undertone was gone.

"Rose stop."

It took me a moment longer to realize what I was doing. I pulled back and looked at him shocked.

Now we had fed from each other before, but only when we were incredibly turned on or if one of us was really hungry, but it had been a substitute. Now it was like I wasn't craving Strigoi power, I was craving him.

I put my hands on my mouth in realization. He seemed to be realizing it too. We drank some Strigoi blood Pavel had brought earlier. It had been enough to recharge Dimitri. But I thought it tasted different from before. I didn't like it very much, but I took some anyway. But I was no longer being sustained by Strigoi blood because it wasn't what was giving me strength and brought me back from almost certain death. It had been Dimitri. His strength and the strength he got from the Strigoi tattoo had saved me and now I needed his strength to survive.

"Oh dear."

Not very eloquent but the only thing I could think of knowing that my husband was also now my main means of staying alive.

"It's okay Roza, If this is what I need to do to keep you with me I'll do it."

I wondered if my own tattoo hadn't given me the power but if all that power I could wield came from the twins. And now that the twins were no longer able to share their strength and acceptance of the Strigoi tattoo with me anymore, I had nearly died in child birth. Dimitri had saved me. He was now the source of my power. Somehow my body was accepting the power from him even if it wasn't accepting the Strigoi power from my own tattoo. It would explain the new physical connection. We had noticed we could now feel each other physically.

I could feel it now as I was straddling him. I could feel the wound on his neck closing almost as if it was happening to my own neck. I could feel the rhythms of our hearts beating in sync and I could feel that Dimitri wasn't a victim of my bite and that it had sparked something in him too. Of course that was visible to the naked eye as well and I felt it distinctly pressing into me as I sat on top of him.

It had been a while. Not only was being almost nine months pregnant with twins doing disastrous things to my libido it also meant that it was very hard finding a position I could actually do it in. I had called it quits a few weeks ago after a failed attempt. I had actually pulled a muscle and even though I healed instantly I was still embarrassed. But now my stomach was flat again, and I had healed. Even a day after giving birth I felt like myself again. I had required no stiches or maternity pads or anything because after Dimitri healed me, I had regained the ability to heal myself. I was glad too. I remember it was a full week before Lissa could walk a bit normally again and she hadn't required stiches. But as much as I was responding to my mans reaction, I wasn't going down that path.

"I am not having sex with you while our new borns are inches away."

I kissed him and laid down next to him.

He chuckeld a bit and pulled me closer.

"I know, but let's see if we can find a quiet place tomorrow while mama watches them for half an hour."

That I could do.

I was grateful for guardian training. Although I had always loved to sleep, Dimitri and I had both gained the ability to skip sleep if it was required and take rest when we could. God it was as if they were preparing you for parenthood. Every two to three hours they would have to eat. They didn't have a day/night rhythm yet, so 3 am was the same to them as 3 pm.

Of course it didn't help that Lissa skyped us in between naps. I remember being exhausted from a full night on and just falling back asleep when Lissa skyped, demanding to see the twins. I had been too tired to object, besides in the hormonal mood she was in she would probably have me arrested for treason.

She had gushed and gushed and I swear she was already arranging a marriage between Eric and Lera. When I pointed out that Eric probably would need a Moroi to carry on the Dragomir line, she just shrugged. We had promised not to be long and were already making plans for the return trip in two weeks time. I was actually glad when Eric had stepped in and saved me from more babbling when he demanded the attention from his mother.

The next two weeks were bliss and frustrating and hell and the best time of my life. Taking care of two new borns was _hard._ But it was also rewarding and amazing. But even though I loved our little baby bubble here in Baia and I appreciated all the help the others were providing, I wanted to go home. I wanted to sleep in our own bed and I wanted them to sleep in their little beds to. And I couldn't wait for everyone to meet them.

I was dreading the return trip home though. It was a long trip. We would have to refuel once and it would take the better part of the day to get back home. I had no idea how the twins would travel. Luckily it was a private plane so no one would get annoyed with kids crying on a commercial airplane.

They looked so cute in their car seats. I had dressed them in warm winter wear and baby warm winter wear meant cute clothes. Lera was dressed as a sheep and Sasha as bear. Well actually they wore pretty much the same thing. Two fluffy coats with ears on top of the hood. I even noticed that they had a little tail sewed onto the bum. It was the cutest things you had ever seen. Lera was asleep as Dimitri carried her but Sasha was awake and taking in everything around him. Normally babies wouldn't be able to look further than a foot or something but we had noticed that they seem to recognize us even across the room. Maybe it was because they could feel our presence or because they heard or voices but the way they would look at us made be believe they could see us. They were also to lift their heads already. They seemed to have more muscle tone compared to what I remember from Eric. We would have to compare notes. Maybe ask Adrian how Declan developed.

20 long hours later we arrived at court. There was a car waiting for us and when we excited the car in the palace parking garage I heard a squeal and I had just enough time to put the car seat holding my son down before Lissa swung herself at me.

It took her about ten seconds of greeting me before all her attention was focused on the twins. Nice to know that a life time of friendship meant something. But who could blame her, my babies were the cutest in the world. Both had dark brown hair resembling me. And Lera had my eyes, Sasha's still had a shade of blue in them so we were guessing he would end up with Dimitri's slightly lighter brown eyes. But both were stunning and I could only imagine what they would look like when they grew up. There was a small pang inside of me. I hoped I would live to see that day. This wasn't a thought most parents had. Sure you could drop dead or get run over by a bus anytime, but for us the future was always uncertain and although our new found powers meant we had an advantage we knew there was always a chance we wouldn't see them grow up. We weren't going back out hunting anytime soon, but the consideration was still there.

Dimitri and I had discussed it between ourselves and had decided we wanted everything legalized as soon as possible. Whereas for most parents the god parents were merely a formality, we actually had to think about it and get things in order.

Christian was next to hug us. He was holding baby Eric, wrapped in lots of blankets. I must admit even if my children were obviously cuter, Eric wasn't ugly either. He opened his eyes at me and I saw a few speckles of green come through the baby blue. That answers that question. Oh he would be a stunner, his father's black hair with his mother's green eyes. I was a little relieved. They were naming him Dragomir to continue the Dragomir line, and they all had green eyes.

We finally made it up the stairs with three babies. We were followed with a few guardians taking our bags and gift up the stairs. The guardian with the huge bears looked a bit silly, but they were light so he didn't complain.

Once we were in the main building more people were there to great us. Adrian, Sydney and Eddie had come to see the twins and when Adrian looked down into the two carseats his eyes lit up.

"Oh little Dhampir, they are gorgeous. Come Declan, come meet your cousins."

Although technically not related, and technically third cousins, we had decided it would be easier to just refer to them as cousins. Certainly now that Sydney was spotting a little baby bump of her own. That baby would be related to them so we were all going to be cousins. I wondered what a Adrian and Sydney's baby would look like. I would imagine it would look nothing like Declan, with his messy brown curls.

Sydney had been a little reluctant to tell us because she didn't want to seem like she was going along with the hype, but we had all been happy for them. Adrian was grinning from ear to ear and Declan was super proud to become a big brother.

After Adrian had swooned over the infants he finally hugged me.

"Well nice to know where I stand now."

He just chuckled.

We said hello to everyone in the room and the twins were being passed around to meet everyone. I got to hold Eric for a bit. We had always been an odd family but we were a family none the less and right now I felt every bit of it. We were loved and so would our children.

Once we put them down for a nap, Dimitri and I asked to speak to Adrian and Sydney.

We went to our own apartment in the palace. Declan was playing in the living room, the twins were down for a nap in their own nursery and we were sitting at the table still being able to see Declan but also being able to talk freely.

Dimitri took out a piece of paper from his bag and put in on the table.

"So we have something to ask you two."

Both Adrian and Sydney looked confused, they obviously didn't know where we were going with this.

"We would like you two to be their godparents."

Adrian's mouth dropped and Sydney just had a calculating look in her eyes.

"Not that I am not honored Rose, but I assumed Lissa and Christian would take those roles."

I looked Dimitri for a bid before complying. This wasn't easy for any of us.

"And if it had been a pure ceremonial thing, they probably would have been, but we all know that in our case it might come true, so we had to consider who would raise our children. And as much as I love Lissa and Christian, I think the twins will be safer with you two. They can grow up with Declan, and although they are different, he is the only other one of their kind. Plus when I told Lissa that I was pregnant and Dimitri was the father she went a little crazy with the possibilities for spirit this could mean. I know you will not only protect them, but their secret too."

Dimitri asked me if I was sure a million times over and I was. He had agreed but wanted to make sure it was what I wanted. Lissa and I had been like sisters. We shared everything and having her not raise or kids was a difficult decision. But in the end I knew it was for the best. Adrian would protect them. He would make sure their needs would come first, even if what they could save the world, he would put them first, I knew there was a point where Lissa would consider testing them, maybe even harming them if it meant it could save her people. It is what makes her a great queen, she was willing to do whatever it took to keep her subjects safe. But it made her a lousy candidate for godparent.

"If you are sure, then of course we will. But I assume we will never have to."

Dimitri handed over the papers.

"There is a letter in there for the twins and for you two if the time comes. We just need you to sign the papers."

With a heavy heart they did and so did we.


	23. Chapter 23

**Short chapter, sorry**

Chapter 23:

DPOV

A year old. Today they would be a year old. I can't believe it happened so fast. It felt like yesterday when I held them in my arms for the first time. But they grow up so fast.

We had set the alarm early so we would have plenty of time to take care of everything, the decorations, the cake and the presents. I turned the soft beeping of my phone off and tried to wake my wife, a humongous task. She groaned and shuffled herself closer to me. Last night came to mind and I smiled. She had rubbed herself against me time and time again. And I had taken the better part of the evening showing her what exactly she did to me. I had fed earlier in the evening and it always rallied us up a bit. Rose had stayed home this time to watch the twins. But whenever I would feed she always felt it. That too had been a year ago when that started. Rose and I were connected physically and whenever I would feed she felt it. As the rich crimson nector would flow down my throat and filled me with strength and endurance she would feel almost orgasmic. Her words not mine, but I had seen the effect on her when I fed a million times, and I was sad to say I didn't see it last night. Lissa had been with her and she had actually had to give her Sasha while she closed her eyes and moaned a few times before she came back to herself. She had left marks in the couch. And then later last night when we were both on the edge already she had fed from me and the feeling was amplified a million times over. Although we could still have sex or make love without feeding off of each other, the other way around was impossible. It was like the two basic instincts were intertwined. I would climax as soon as she bit down and by the moans and groans escaping her mouth with her fangs in my neck I knew she did too.

So it was especially difficult waking her up early this morning. She was in the equivalent of a foodcoma. She had been satiated on so many levels her body simply refused to wake up and face reality. But today was a good day.

I bend down to whisper in her ear.

"Come on Roza, we need to prepare, our little rugrats are going to be up in an hour or so and we have a million things to do for their birthday party."

She smiled against me. She lifted up and bit and softly kissed me. Then she threw off the blankets and was out of bed leaving me cold in bed alone.

It was indeed an hour on the dot when the twins woke up. Lera always was the punctual one. She woke up every morning around the same time and her chatting woke her brother up. I smiled when I saw he was trying hard not to wake up and moved his head to the other side trying to block out his sister. He reminded me of Roza so much. The mannerism in which he did it was exactly Rose.

Lera on the other hand looked like me. Right down to the scowl on her face when Sasha did something he wasn't supposed to.

"Come on my baby boy. Time to wake up. Mommy has a surprise for you two."

I picked up Lera and we each dressed our child. Although we could switch now and Lera seemed to accept Rose more and Sasha seemed to tolerate me, they still had their favorites. Although when Rose got mad at something they did, they both hid behind my leg and when they were tired or got hurt they both preferred the comfort only a mother could provide, even if the pain was healed instantly. I put Lera in a cute little dress and I swear I saw her look down and frown, but she was one, she didn't have that sort of comprehension yet.

After I dressed her I put her down and Rose did the same to Sasha and they both ran to the kitchen. That is right, not crawl or walk, no run. In comparison, Eric could stand now and slowly walk on the hand of one of his parents. And he was normal in his development. The twins however were a bit ahead of the curve. Development of their mind seemed on track, perhaps a bit faster than normal, but their understanding of the world was well in range of one year olds. They would talk baby talk with Eric and had the crying when mommy or daddy left the room down flat, but their bodily development was something different. They were still the right size for one year olds, albeit it a bit tall, but their muscle tone and strength was way beyond that of one year olds, it meant they had the strength to crawl and roll over since they were three months old. They had been walking since six and now they were running. Adrian had said that Declan had been ahead of the curve too, but nothing like this. So we contributed it to them having Dhampir parents who were infused with Strigoi. Why couldn't our lives ever be simple?

We had gotten to the kitchen only moments after the twins and they had spotted the cake. Now even if Sasha resembled Rose the most, both had a love for food that could have only come from Rose. Normally Lera wasn't much of a mischievous baby, but when food was involved they teamed up and made sure they went home with the cake, or whatever food item they had had their sights on.

And now on the middle of the table stood a cake. The largest cake they had seen, except Eric's cake a few weeks ago. But they were babies, they don't remember that.

I could already see Lera plotting out a plan to get to the cake while Sasha was inspecting the stability of the chair he was climbing on to get to the cake. I picked up Sasha while Rose picked up the cake and put it on a higher shelf.

Both children started crying.

"Oh come on, you can have cake later, first we have breakfast and then when everyone is over for the party we will have cake."

The children didn't pipe down until Rose put their sandwiches in front of them. It was almost as if they shrugged: food is food. And they dug into it. Rose chuckled as she ate her own cereal.

After breakfast we took them to the living room for some playing until the rest would arrive in an hour. Eric was the first to come. He was holding a package but he seemed more keen to keep it himself then to give it to the twins. Although he was mostly interested in the wrapping. Actually so were the twins. When we had unpacked the package and saw an extra swing set inside to hung on the large swing outside in the yard, all babies where already occupied with the paper. The twins running around while Eric was happily chasing them by crawling around. As long as they were having fun it was alright. Maybe their next birthday they would be more interested in the presents than the wrapping.

We had gathered around with all our family and friends. Abe had bought them a ridicules large gift again. This time two electric child cars. Adrian and Sydney had given them a DVD so they could learn Spanish and my family had sent some present for them by mail, mostly stuffed animals, books and toys.

We were all chatting away, me holding little Daniella on my lap. She was now eight months old and was looking around the room. She had Sydney's blond hair but Adrian's green eyes. And like my own daughter her eyes exuded wisdom. I looked around but I didn't see the twins or Eric anymore. I started to panic a bit until I heard sounds coming from the kitchen. I looked over at Rose and she looked back at me understanding across both our faces. She sprinted towards the kitchen the same time I did.

The sight before me was almost too comical not to laugh at. Lera and Sasha were on the counter, trying to reach for the cake. The sound we had heard was a plate falling on the ground as it had obviously been in their way. Sasha was supporting his sister while she reached for the cake, she was almost there too. Eric was sitting on the ground cheering them on. Now doubt hoping for a piece of cake too. The moment we entered the kitchen Lera and Sasha looked our way and stilled their hands. There was a calculative look in my daughter's eyes and I could see the moment she made her decision. She moved her arm and with it launching to cake down the counter and onto the floor. Her eyes hadn't left mine.

Eric crawled over and started to happily munch on the cake. Sasha and Lera got down from the counter and joined him. Three happy little toddlers stuffing their face with cake. The others came in and I saw Lissa hold in her laugh.

Declan came forward.

"Are they allowed to do that?"

I smiled.

"no, but today is their birthday, so we will let it slide."

Declan looked at me with wide pleading eyes. I looked over to Sydney and Adrian and they nodded.

"Oh go on then."

He happily walked over to where the three were sitting and sat down to. He grabbed a piece of cake in his hands and started stuffing his face. I saw Rose had grabbed the camera and started taking pictures. Declan was taking a piece to his sister but Adrian explained she was too little to get any cake. When Declan pointed out the others were little too. Adrian relented and Declan gave a small piece of cake to his sister. She was happily munching on the piece. Once it was gone she opened her mouth again. She was very disappointed when she wasn't offered another piece. Adrian tried comforting her but it took her mother to calm her down. And the funny thing was Sydney didn't do it with comfort she did it by explaining it was bad for her. You could already see her taking after her mother. She was thirsty for knowledge.

Declan was a true warrior, he would make a very good guardian one day. He was definitely taking after his biological parents. I could see the same in our children. They had a fire in their eyes that screamed warrior, but Dani didn't, she was a scholar if you ever saw one. I wondered how our world would take that. Many things had improved over the years. But Dhampirs were still thought in two ways. Either you were a guardian or you were a mother.

But as I was looking down at our families. The toddlers down on the ground stuffing their faces with cake and Declan besides it taking his share a well as taking care of his sister, I knew they would be friends for life.


	24. Chapter 24

**Last chapter. After this only an epilogue left.**

 **Keep in mind I ALWAYS go for the happy ending. I am just taking the long way around. Consider this the long way. Sequel is already written and I will FIX this. But I felt this needed to be written. This is how I imagined it.**

Chapter 24:

RPOV

I kissed my kids goodnight. We tried giving them their own room now that they were three years old but they would sneak in each other's bed each night, so we relented and just made one room for them. Lissa was on babysitting duty. Well it wasn't really babysitting. We kind of lived in the same house, the same very very big house. Our apartment was next to theirs so she would just take the baby monitor and sit in her own room.

"Sleep tight, my baby boy, be a good boy."

I moved over to Lera.

"sweet dreams my sweet baby girl, Mommy loves you both very much."

Dimitri kissed them too and we left their rooms. I looked back one more time, committing their features to memory. I didn't know why I looked back, I normally don't but somehow I needed that extra bit of time with them.

Maybe it was because we were going on a mission. We hadn't had many in the last few years, one because we had the twins and Hans wasn't going to bother us with minor stuff. Usually we were only called in when they found a nest close to court. Once the word got out that Court had two high powered warriors, the area around Court had gone eerily quiet. Most didn't know the extent of our powers, but we still functioned as a nuclear deterrent. And just like a nuclear deterrent small countries or in our case small town Strigoi stayed away, but larger countries or ancient Strigoi had risen to the challenge. We were getting reports of nests run by ancients that were looking to take down the Belikovs. When I brought up the fact I kept my own last name Hans had not been amused.

So tonight we were taking out a nest not far from here. We always went alone, because one, it was kind our fault they were there in the first place but also because if we had to take down a nest with a few ancients in there it wouldn't be easy. We would have to dig deep into our power. It meant we would have to move faster and fight harder than we normally would. Dimitri and I could feel each other but we didn't feel anybody else so it meant anybody helping us could end up as collateral damage.

We suited up and we were quiet. Normally we would talk or banter or help each other with our gear while feeling the other up, but that didn't seem to be happening today. Once we were in the car and crossed the wards I took Dimitri's hand and squeezed. We didn't say anything. We both had a bad feeling about this, but we always did. It was the fear of leaving behind our kids. Every time we went on a mission and away from them I would feel torn. I would feel like I was abandoning my children, because I was willingly walking out the door with a chance of not coming back. But we wanted a better world for them, wanted a saver world for them so we had to go out and do this.

We drove to the middle of nowhere. There was an old house which apparently held a nest of Strigoi. Seriously people should just take down old houses and we would have a lot less Strigoi on our hands.

We parked a little away, like we always did. We would move in silently on foot to fist stake out the place, get a reading on the number of Strigoi and the comings and goings of them.

We could see the house a little further away, but we didn't see any Strigoi. We transformed hoping at better visual and hearing but still nothing. Ever since we got the tattoos we could sort of feel them. We would get a rush of adrenaline when they were near, a primal response from a predator who was near their prey. But nothing. No adrenaline rush, no whooshing of blood. No breathing fueled by an undead body. Nothing.

"Well it looks like Hans was wrong. No nest here."

I whispered to Dimitri next to me. He had come to the same conclusion. But if there weren't any Strigoi here then why was I feeling anxious. I just wanted to get home to my children.

"let's go."

Dimitri took my hand and together we made our way back to the car. About half way through I stopped dead in my tracks. Red eyes were coming from me in the bushes.

We turned on our own red eyes and I saw that pair was joined by several more. I counted seven. Not going to be fun, but certainly not a death sentence. But why were we not getting the adrenaline rush. Why wasn't Dimitri getting worked up by his bloodlust.

We took a few steps back to a more open area. It would make it easier to fight when it came to it. But when we turned around we saw red eyes there too. As I turned around I saw red eyes in all directions. To many to count now. Now I understand why weren't getting the feelings associated with hunting our prey. Because tonight the tables were turned we were the prey and they were the predators. I didn't understand the shear amount of Strigoi that were here. We haven't seen such number since the St. Vladimir attack.

Dimitri and I moved back to back. He took my hand lacing his fingers with mine. I felt a shiver run down my body as a Strigoi stepped forwards. I actually felt my legs shake with fear. I wouldn't let him know it but by the way he was looking at me he knew. He knew because he was used to seeing his prey quiver in fear before him.

"So these are the famous Dimitri Belikov and Rose Hathaway. Husband and wife. The nightmare of every Strigoi. If we had children we would tell them stories of you if they didn't eat their vegetables. The sheer number of us that have fallen at your feet is astonishing. And before the night is over many more will have followed our brethren. But tonight we drag you back to hell with us."

The Strigoi erupted in cheers at his words. He was old to command such respect. I had fought many old Strigoi, I remember Isaiah, I remember how he felt different from Elena. I could always tell how old a Strigoi was. If you looked into their eyes you knew if they have walked this world for years or centuries. But the read I was getting from this guy was neither. It was eons. He had been a Strigoi for eons.

"Been there done that."

I told him in as much bravado as I could. I hoped he didn't hear the shaking in my voice. The slight pull of his lips told me I failed in my mission to hide it.

"Ah yes your talents for escaping death are legendary. I suppose it is what makes you so deadly. But everything must die eventually, death and taxes right. Well everyone except me of course."

He stepped a bit closer and I felt Dimitri stiffen beside me and move ever so slightly in front of me. As if he could protect me from the army of Strigoi we were facing.

"Any last words?"

"Bite me."

But to Dimitri I whispered my true last message. I love you. I could hear him reciprocate over the sound of Strigoi running at us. I pulled out my stake and we went to work. Even though I knew we were probably done for. I was going to take as many of them as I could with me. I would open a hellmouth right here and drag them all back to hell.

The first few fell easily. No doubt he was sending in the weakest first to determine our strength and strategy. Dimitri was feeding where he could. And I felt the effects of it permeating into me. Although I needed his actual blood to recover fully, our bodies were physically linked so increase in his strength meant an increase in mine.

We picked up the pace after that, but no matter how many we killed they kept coming. Dimitri and I were working in sync. We stayed close and we often took an opponent down together, but unlike the bodies of the Strigoi which were powered by their undead state, our mortal bodies were beginning to tire. I had two cracked rips and I noticed they were taking a long time to heal. I saw some gashes in Dimitri's face that were healing but very slowly too. He sank his teeth in another but we were burning off our power faster than we could replenish it. We slowed down too.

But I did see the sea of Strigoi was thinning. The ground was littered with their bodies. The ground was red with blood. Some it ours most of it theirs. But I don't know if it mattered that we had taken so many down when they were still so many upon us. I had seen the old Strigoi holding back. He had been watching us in the back. His red gleaming eyes never leaving us. I wondered when he would step in.

After taking down a few more Strigoi I would get my answer. He stepped forward and almost like a rehearsed dance all others backed off. I looked over the horizon. The sun would be up soon. But I doubt we would live to see another sunrise. I felt a small tear escape my eyes.

Dimitri looked at me and I saw determination in his eyes. We would go down fighting, if we could just stall. If we could just distract them long enough for the sun to come up. But I knew the man standing before us wasn't stupid. He wouldn't be around at sunrise.

"Well well, you are incredible. How you have mastered that stolen power is quit commendable. In my very long life I haven't seen anything like it. But all good things must come to an end. And seeing as I want to be out of here before even I meet my end I will get a move on things and finish you off myself. Personally I can't wait to taste you."

I shivered. The gleam in his eyes went from predatory to lustful and I heard Dimitri growl beside me. I also noticed his wounds and mine has seized healing. I was feeling sore but still okay. Mostly cuts and bruises, no major injuries yet. We would need every ounce of our strength to pull through.

"Nobody leaves even if you fry, nobody leaves. I want you all to see my glorious victory."

Every Strigoi was standing still as if bound to the spot. Not good. Strigoi might work together for a common goal but they were inherently selfish creature, their own safety above everything else. The fact they were willing to listen to him told me exactly the hold he had on them.

He charged and I swear even with our enhanced eyesight I didn't see him move at all. He punched me and I landed several feet away. Okay there goes rib number one and two. Dimitri engaged him but was met with a similar result.

We both stood up and moved towards each other. We needed to regroup. We had barely managed to come together when he charged again. But this time we were ready. He was too fast for us to see but having opponents be stronger and faster than us was nothing new. We used to fight opponents like that all the time. And it seemed the instincts were still there. We moved before he did and we were starting to get some punches in. Not that he felt them. Only when Dimitri swiped the point of his stake across his chest did he show any sign of discomfort.

The speed at which the wound healed was alarming but at least he was still affected by it. I had actually been expecting him to be unaffected by the stake. That is the kind of strength he exuded from every pore of his body.

He launched and we evaded. Dimitri would go high and I would go low. Or the other way around. We didn't need words to tell what the other one was doing. We knew. Years of sparring and marriage has formed an almost telepathic bond. But no matter how in sync we were, we were still taking a beating. But as I saw his lip heal I knew we were hitting getting some good shots in too. He was healing of course but we were hitting him. So we just had to find an opening to stake him. There were two of us and one of him. We had two stakes. Surely one could land.

I knew if we could kill him the others would leave. We had taken over thirty Strigoi already and although there were still at least that numbers left there I knew if we took this guy down they would flee in light of the approaching morning. I could almost taste the first sunrays. I wondered if they would welcome our victory or graze our dead bodies with their light.

There it was, the sliver of hope. An opening. Dimitri saw it too and took it. It had taken all his strength but he plunged the stake in the bastards heart. I felt the tension drain from me. We survived, we defeated him. We…

We were screwed. The light in the Strigoi's eyes didn't fade and when I looked down at his chest I saw why. The stake wasn't in far enough. Not because Dimtiri didn't have enough strength left to do it properly but because the Strigoi's body was hardened by eons of survival it simply didn't want to go any further. I didn't hesitate for a moment. I dropped on my hands and kicked my legs out. I kicked him in the chest and pushed the stake in with every fiber of my being. The momentum of my kick giving it enough force to move past the barrier of his chest and find its way into its heart.

I fell down and I saw Dimitri plummet to the earth in exhaustion. I laid down on the ground and I felt Dimitri next to me. I couldn't move a muscle, but Dimitri had enough strength to still grab my fingers and stroke them. We didn't speak we didn't need to.

I knew dawn was only moments away. I was imagining the rays on my skin. Their light touching us and warming us. It would tell us we were still here, that we were still human. That we would be fine. I felt Dimitri's fingers stiffen in my hand and when I opened my eyes I knew we wouldn't see another dawn. Neither would the Strigoi hanging over us. But the words of the ancient Strigoi were reminiscing in my head.

"And before the night is over many more will have followed our brethren. But tonight we drag you back to hell with us."

This wasn't a kill mission for them. It was a suicide mission. They knew that if they stayed they would die with us. But even in death this Strigoi had power of them.

I felt the first fang hit my skin. Now Dimitri has fed off me countless times. Both as Strigoi as well as our hybrid selfs, but even as Strigoi his penetration had been filled with pleasure underneath the pain. There was no pleasure now.

One was at my throat while I felt another on my thigh. A third one was at my wrist. There didn't seem to be a rush of endorphins. Probably our hybrid state had nullified that. But I was grateful. It hurt like hell but I wanted the last moments on this earth to be clear.

I focused on Dimitri's fingers still laced with mine instead of focusing on my own pain or the pain I could feel radiating from Dimitri. I started to feel cold. No doubt a sign of the massive blood loss, both by our fight and as a result of the gentleman and women who were scrambling for a piece of us.

Then I felt warm. I saw flickering light and it took me a moment to realize the Strigoi were on fire. The dawn had arrived. But they didn't release our veins, even as they scorched the earth with their bodies. I didn't even feel the pain of my own skin searing with flame. When the Strigoi were nothing more than ash at our feet I could feel the warmth of the dawn on my skin. The small light still coming through my blood-filled eyes. I felt one more squeeze from Dimitri before his hand lost all its tension. I couldn't feel him anymore. The connection was gone.

 _I am right behind your baby._

The last thing I felt before my body went numb and my mind went blank was a tear falling down my face and being warmed by the first rays of sunshine. For everyone else the day was beginning, but for us it ushered in the next life.

 **So I promised Katnipsc I would keep them together, I never promised to keep them alive ;).**

 **Don't hate me. Just remember. Eventually… everything will be alright… Eventually. Tell me what you think.**


	25. Chapter 25

**I will start uploading the first chapter of the sequel tomorrow. I decided on a separate story because it starts off with a bit of a time jump. It will also clarify some things on the Romitri front. So if you aren't following me, please do, so you'll get an alert when i post the next story. Or just check my profile page.**

Epilogue

Adrian's POV

I was standing in front of a statue depicting two people I held dear. The likeness of the statue was eery, still the bronze depicture of Dimitri and Rose was a poor substitute for the real thing.

I was holding Lera on my hip and Sasha was standing holding my leg. I didn't know if they realized this was supposed to be their parent's grave and that the remains of them were buried underneath. We had tried to tell them that they were gone and when they had asked where they went we told them the cheesy answer of 'they are in heaven'.

I had choked up when they asked five minutes later when mommy and daddy would be back from heaven. They were three. They didn't understand the concept of death.

It was heartbreaking taking them to bed and tucking them while they cried for their parents.

It was a few months after their deaths and they seemed to get better during the day, but still at night they asked about them. I wondered how long it would take them to stop asking. Part of me wanted for them to stop asking so they wouldn't hurt so much anymore, but part of me wanted them to keep asking because it meant they still remembered their parents. But I knew the day would come when they would forget them. Sydney and I would of course tell them about them and I would take them here where they paid tribute to the great sacrifice they had made for the world. But I knew by the time they were all grown up they wouldn't remember them. They wouldn't remember how much they loved them and how they would read stories and would play Strigoi and guardian with them as they moved around the house chasing each other.

It had been a hard couple of months for all of us. When we got the phone call I personally went down to the field to see. I had to make sure. I had to see it with my own eyes.

When we arrived in the field the scene had almost been serene. Except they weren't sleeping like in a fairy tale as was obvious by their gray pallor, several bite marks and various other horrific injuries. But somehow they had looked at peace. I saw they were still holding hands. I thought it fitting.

Lissa had been sad for the twins because they lost both their parents, but as I was looking down at them in the field I had been grateful. Even if it meant they left their twins, it also meant that they would be together, wherever they were. I hoped our theory was true and they were in a better place together. I knew one wasn't complete without the other and I wondered if either of them had survived what kind of person they still were. I imagined Dimitri would be as closed off as he was before he met Rose times a gazillion and Rose would go through the motion trying hard not to cry when Lera or Sasha would do something that would remind her of her husband. It may not have been better for the twins, but it was better for them to have died together.

The ground around their bodies was saturated with a greyish substance. It took me a moment to realize it was the ash from Strigoi. I wondered how many of them there had been here to create so much grey. But I suppose the grey was preferable to dead bodies around them. But it was a sight I would remember till my last breath. Their lifeless bodies in a field with poppies and ash.

After that Lissa had issued a statue to be made in their honor, and nobody not even the most conservative Moroi had objected. We learned a little later that Rose and Dimitri had taken out the oldest Strigoi we know of. The alchemists had confirmed it a few weeks later. It meant that Strigoi attacks around the world had slowed down. It was as if they were grieving with us and had called a temporary truce.

Of course Lissa had done this after she cooled down enough after learning that Rose and Dimitri had appointed Sydney and I as legal guardians. In the letter they had left they mostly talked about financial stuff they had put aside for the twins. And if they needed any help in that department that we could always call Abe to help them. But Rose had also said in the letter she hadn't told Lissa about them picking us. She had joked that that was the only good reason about being dead because she didn't have to deal with Lissa's reaction. I had laughed and cried because it was such a Rose thing to say. It had taken Lissa a few weeks to calm down after that before she could see that being around Declan could have been important to them as well. We did have to come clean about that with Lissa. I think she took it well. All things considered. But maybe she was just numb from their deaths.

We also read the letters of the twins. It mostly said that they loved them and wish they could have been there to watch them grow up. It also explained why they chose to fight instead of staying at home with them. They apologized for putting their safety and that of the world above staying with them, but they said that it is important for those that have powers to use them instead of idly stand by. They even included a quote that evil prevails when good people do nothing. I imagine it was Dimitri who wrote that and Rose would have rolled her eyes at his zen crap.

We had moved closer to court since. We didn't live inside of court because Sydney was widely uncomfortable but we were close enough so Lera and Sasha still saw plenty of Eric, Lissa and Christian. Also Abe and Janine often stayed at court so that was a favorite as well. Abe had insisted to ward the place and every two weeks they were renewed. There had also been funds for a new house because Rose and Dimitri had anticipated that new accommodations would be necessary. I didn't know if we would have stayed in our old house, but Declan was eight now. He attended a human school, but we noticed he wasn't satisfied with this. He wanted to be a guardian like his aunt Rose and uncle Dimitri and we both knew it was in his blood. He would have to attend an academy soon. Lissa had insisted that they form an academy at court so it would be easier to protect Eric. It had been a while since a monarch was young enough to have school going children. Lera and Sasha would attend the same school and so would Declan when they would open after the summer.

I was standing in front of Rose and Dimitri's statue and was telling them exactly that.

"Lera, why don't you tell Mommy where you and Sasha and Eric are going next year."

Lera who looked to wise for her years, a look I had seen in my own daughter too, looked over to the bronze statue and cocked her head.

"We will all be going. Me and Eric and Declan and even Dani, oh and Sasha too of course. We will learn to be strong like you and Daddy, so we can learn how to protect Eric and even his little sister when she is born."

That too had been a source of distress for Lissa. She had wanted to tell her best friend she was pregnant again, but she died before she could. She recently had found out that they were having a girl and she had made a point of naming the girl after Rose. I am sure she would have been honored.

"Come on my little Dhampirs, Lets go home, I am sure Sydney will have dinner on the table soon."

I set down Lera as both children were running towards the direction of the car. Nothing gets them excited as food. Well maybe training. I was glad we had a big backyard because they were always running around chasing each other playing and mock fighting even at three years old. They were so much like their parents it hurt sometimes.

I looked back to the statue again. Their features captured perfectly, even the way they stood together, looking fierce and lethal and loving towards each other at the same time. At the plaque beneath their feet were their names and dates of birth and death and a zwezda for each. Yeah they killed countless of Strigoi, more than any in history.

Under the mandatory stuff, Lissa had engraved a sentence which captured their lives perfectly.

'Protectors of us all.'

 **Thanks everyone for the reviews/ follows and favorites. I appreciate all of them. And just keep in mind: Happy endings!.**


	26. Chapter 26

Dear all. The new story is up.

Thanks for all the reviews (we reached 250 exactly ;)) and follows and favs.

I appreciate them all.

Hope to see you in the sequel: Crimson Revelations


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